


Game Sync

by NikuKnight



Category: Sword Art Online (Anime & Manga)
Genre: ADHD, Asexual main character, Dreams and Nightmares, F/M, Gen, I'm not sure there's anything else to tag?, OFC and OMC are the same character by the way, Self-Insert, Tamed Monster as a Character, Yet another SAO SI, aromantic main character, have fun with that, oh right
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-07-05
Updated: 2019-09-11
Packaged: 2020-06-09 18:07:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 15
Words: 21,432
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19481209
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NikuKnight/pseuds/NikuKnight
Summary: Dreaming about fictional universes was nothing unusual. Having dreams continue from one night to the next was still somewhat normal. Consistently reappearing in the same dream world every night, however, meant something bigger was going on. Right?Or: In which the main character dreams of a steel castle in the sky and is somehow connected to a certain Black Swordsman.





	1. Once Upon a Dream

**Author's Note:**

> Just wanted to start off with a fair warning: this story takes a lot of random, probably unusual ideas and jams them all together. Saying what exactly would be spoilers, but I did spoil one in the tags. The main character isn't exactly trans so much as they are confused. You'll see how that goes in the story.
> 
> Last thing: dreams are weird, man. I love dreams, and I love SAO, so I mashed them together to create this. Give it a chance? 
> 
> Disclaimer: I do not own Sword Art Online.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey hey hey! Happy Fourth of July to all who celebrate it! Gotta be honest, it used to be my favorite holiday because it meant a full day in the pool with my friends and my dad cooking on the grill. 
> 
> Anyway, this might be somewhat of a crack fic. Or maybe just kind of weird and self-contradicting? I really have no idea what I'm doing. I just really want Kirito to have a supportive big sister and I would be totally okay filling that role myself.

It started differently than most dreams, in that I could see the world taking shape. Everything built itself up from wireframes, which was…not quite surprising. I played a lot of video games; it made sense that they would bleed into my dreams.

This place looked familiar though, and the details were different than usual. It was beautiful here. I was in a field, with floating bits of land in the distance. A sky-like ceiling hung high, high above me. A gentle wind swept in from where the artificial sky ended, and off on the horizon I could see the real sky, open to the air.

First thing's first: time to explore. How high were those floating chunks of earth? What was on top of them? I jumped, fully expecting to reach the nearest one, only to manage just a short hop.

Huh? Couldn't I fly? If that wasn't working, then could I still use my other powers? I tried sinking through the ground, only nothing happened. I held my breath but needed to breathe again shortly after. The floating spires of land wouldn't move when I tried using telekinesis. Nothing I tried creating from thin air would materialize.

Dang. Powers made life so much easier.

I felt vulnerable, defenseless, unprotected without them. But this place was so pretty; I was probably safe here. If I weren't so easily bored I'd be content to stay here and watch the colors of the sky as the day progressed.

Alas, nothing held my attention for very long, nor would it linger in my memory. Memories in dreams were fickle things.

I was barefoot, if the soft texture of the grass was any indication. Odd. A familiar, unfamiliar weight sat on my hip. Also odd. I investigated to find a sword. Heck yes! I wasn't totally helpless!

There was a soft _ding_ behind me, and I was instantly on high alert. I'd thought I was alone; what could that be?

I turned around to find a boar, and suddenly I knew where I was.

Oh _HELL_ yeah.

I was in SAO.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And break! I know this is kind of boring right now. And short. It's mostly observation as our character enters the dream for the first time. To make it quite clear, she is a normal human from our world. She's dreaming, so she's used to having the powers that she has in her dreams, and not terrified as anyone actually stuck in SAO should be.


	2. Link, Start!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Our unnamed character attemps to fight off a bunch of beginner mobs.

Okay, I was in SAO. I didn't have powers because no one here had powers. Even though I was dreaming, I was, apparently, no exception.

There was a boar about to attack me.

I had a sword.

Attack the boar with the sword, right.

I took a step before lunging forward, sword swinging forward to slash at the oncoming boar. I met a surprising amount of resistance as digital steel met digital flesh, but managed to finish the move out enough to deal damage. I had taken a good fourth of its health.

The boar faltered before surging forward to attack me again. I attempted to dodge backwards only to trip, putting my face right in its path. Needless to say, I got a face full of charging boar. It was not pleasant.

Flat on my back, I heard another _ding_ as a second boar spawned. Great.

I rolled over to get up, barely missing being trampled by the first boar I had yet to beat. Twirling back to my feet, I had to jump over the second boar as it charged past, right on the heels of the first one. While it was trying to stop its own momentum I slashed at its backside, making three awkward slashes before it was able to turn around. One more hit and it would be done, I was pretty sure.

Not to be forgotten about, the first boar made to charge again. I jumped again and this time slashed down as it passed below me, taking half of its original health. This meant it, too, had a single hit left to take it out.

I was doing pretty well, I thought. That is, until I heard a third ding. This just got better and better, didn't it?

I managed to finish off the first boar when the third one rammed into my side, tossing me into the grass. I looked up and to the left to see that I, too, had a health bar, and it was already down to the low green. Weren't these boars supposed to be easy?

Another ding, and another, and I was just about done with this whole SAO business. It was fun, sure, but without powers? I'll admit, my powers had spoiled me. I was used to running (read: flying) out of reach or turning intangible and letting things phase right through me. This whole fighting shtick was for other dreams, and other dreamselves, not me. Let the warrior dreamselves take care of it.

Which made me wonder where this dream went wrong. Was it because I had been lucid while the dream was still being built?

Lost in my thoughts, I noticed too late the charging boar and was knocked to the side once again. I rolled, attempting to minimize damage from the impact but only succeeding in acquiring rolling damage. Darn you Breath of the Wild for making that a thing even in my head!

My health was down to mid-yellow now, and I still had four boars to beat. I suspected if I didn't beat them quickly, more would spawn. This game really was a death trap, wasn't it?

I knew there wouldn't be any lasting consequences if I died, because _dream,_ but I wanted to see more of Aincrad, and I doubted the dream would let me stay here if I got myself killed. I'd probably "wake up" in a new layer or something in a completely different place. Or I'd just respawn like nothing happened. Despite that reassuring thought, I didn't care to test it.

Which meant something had to change, and quick.

I managed to kill another boar by activating a sword skill—and what an amazing feeling! The rush! The thrill! My first sword skill!—but two more spawned it its place. The post-skill movement freeze (or whatever it was called) was also bad news, which cost me more health. Things weren't looking good.

I heard another _ding_ followed by the sound of shattering glass.

Huh?

That wasn't me, was it?

I calmed down a bit after confirming that I was, in fact, still alive, and got my thoughts straight enough to realize that this had to mean I wasn't alone anymore.

And who slashes his way through the remaining boars, but the Black Swordsman himself?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And so ends the second chapter! This one got away from me a bit. I thought our character was going to get to explore, not immediately get bombarded by boars. I knew she'd have to fight one, since that's how the last chapter ended, but the rest just kind of happened. At least it kept things interesting?


	3. Meeting the Legends

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Our character makes friends!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so I plan on bringing over three chapters at a time from fanfiction, which means this is the last chapter for tonight. 
> 
> Boy, has it been a long time since I watched canon…

Once the last of the boars shattered into fragments Kirito turned to me. "I take it you're new at this too, huh?"

'Too?' I wasn't in the beta, was I? That wouldn't make much sense. Kirito was still in his created avatar, though, so it was possible.

Right about then a pink-haired figure in red ran up, getting uncomfortably close. "It's a pleasure to meet a pretty lady like you! I'm Klein. What's your name? Are you single?"

Ah. Not in the beta then. How convenient that I ended up right at the beginning of the anime! And how convenient, too, that I was able to understand what they were saying.

"It's…" ah crap, what was my name? Stupid dreams messing up my memories! "Nanako." I blurted out the first thing that came to mind, the name of a side character from an old dream. "And as cute as you are," I began, and dang, I couldn't believe I had the confidence to say that to his face, "I'm not interested. Aro-ace, sorry."

Klein looked confused at the term, so I elaborated. "Aromantic asexual. It's nothing against you, but I am literally incapable of being interested. In anyone, ever." I didn't see the point to keeping it a secret. As long I as surrounded myself with good company, the more people who knew, the fewer would get their hearts broken when I said no. (And, hopefully, the fewer people would even ask.) It sounded vain, assuming that enough people would like me for that to be a problem, but it was, unfortunately, my reality.

"Is that even possible? How can you live like that?" Klein was aghast. To be fair, he was about as far from aro-ace as you could get. He probably couldn't even imagine what it was like.

"With lots of friends and little drama," I deadpanned. Ah, the beautiful, beautiful pros of not having romantic drama in your life.

Kirito glanced at Klein, who was now frozen with his mouth open. "I think you broke him."

"I think so too," I snorted. "And to answer your question, I am new at this, and I haven't had any training at all with a sword. Formal, that is. I've been okay at fighting things off in my dreams, but that doesn't really count, does it?" I smirked to myself. He didn't know this was a dream, and I wasn't about to tell him. Why ruin immersion? Even if it wasn't real, getting to experience all this firsthand was incredible. Better than real life.

"To start with, why don't you open your inventory and heal up." Kirito brought me back to the present.

"Right." I swiped down with my right hand. A menu appeared in the air in front of me, and to my relief it was in english. Thank god. Sandwiched between some unequipped starter gear in my inventory was a single potion. I clicked it, and a small vial appeared in my hand. Curious of the flavor, I uncorked it and downed the glittery liquid inside.

It tasted like apple juice. Interesting.

Satisfied that the potion was doing its work, Kirito moved on to the next thing. "Why did you unequip your gear? And your shoes? Your gear should increase your defense somewhat so you don't lose so much health."

I didn't have an answer to that. I'd already resolved to not tell him I was dreaming, and I didn't want him to know I was an anomaly in the system. I'd have to come up with some story.

"What, can't a girl want to feel the grass between her toes? Gotta worry about fire ants back home, so I can't do that normally." That should work, right?

"And your starter gear?"

"…I don't remember. It was kind of dumb." I equipped the things in my inventory as I said this. No need to leave myself open.

Kirito looked skeptical, but it was none of his business so he didn't press further. Good.

Klein finally got ahold of himself. "How long do you have until you have to log out? Do you want to join us grinding?"

How long _did_ I have until I "logged out?" As far as dreams went, they could last anywhere from hours to years of in-dream time. The average was just a couple days, but that was still a long time to be logged into a game.

"Until my family wakes m—er, takes off my nervegear, I guess." I shrugged. It's not like anyone would be worried about logging out soon anyway. "But I'd love to join you two! I could use some tips."

As if on cue, more boars began spawning. I was surprised it took this long, to be honest. With the rate they had been spawning when I was alone it was amazing none spawned while we were talking.

Kirito showed me the basics of using sword skills while Klein tried to show off what he'd learned. By the time the sky reached the orange hue I recognized from the anime, we had all reached level two.

Klein opened his menu to log out. I watched as he navigated the menu in confusion, unable to find the missing button.

"Uh, Kirito? I can't find the log out button."

"What?" Kirito opened his own menu to show Klein from his. "But it's right—" he stopped as he saw the blank space where the log out button used to be.

Curious as to what my menu would say, I opened mine as well and scrolled to the bottom. Where I assumed the log out button was supposed to be was the word "Wake." Interesting. I had been able to control when I woke up before, but never through a button. I almost pressed it just to see if it would work, but stopped myself. I wanted as much time in Aincrad as possible before I woke up. I'd probably never dream about it so realistically ever again; waking up now would be an utter waste.

I closed my menu without a word, not wanting to draw attention to my different situation.

"Same problem?" Kirito asked. I nodded, not wanting to speak an outright lie.

"Man, I had pizza coming," Klein groaned. "They won't deliver it if no one answers the door."

"The GMs are probably panicking about this," Kirito reasoned. "It should be fixed soon."

And that's when we were teleported away in a wash of blue light.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> When I said in the author's note in chapter one that I liked dreams, I wasn't joking. They're my obsession. It's bad. Now you get to suffer with me! 
> 
> The "Wake" button was included on a whim because it happened in a previous dream from real life. It was a Breath of the Wild dream, and where the save button was supposed to be on the Sheikah Slate was that button instead. I didn't press it then either, but I have no doubt that it would have worked, judging from the things that have gotten me to wake up in the past.


	4. The Tutorial

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nanako begins to change canon, ever so slightly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I love the title to this story so much. It's so perfect. It comes from the pokemon dream world, which had a similar premise to this. 
> 
> I'll admit, I did look up some of the script for this one. I paraphrased most of it from memory, but I forgot some things.

Being force-teleported without doing it myself was disorienting, to say the least. I blinked the light out of my eyes, finding myself to be completely surrounded by players in the plaza where Kayaba gives his speech.

I was really experiencing this, wasn't I? I was really going to be present for this moment? Incredible. I wondered how close the speech would be to the anime. I'd have to cross-check the dialog when I woke up.

A hexagon hung in the sky containing the words "Immortal Object." I watched, transfixed, as it multiplied, covering the entire plaza with a honeycombed dome. A blood-like substance seeped from between them, eventually forming the foreboding figure of Kayaba's reaper-looking avatar. I knew this was worrying to most people, but I could only smile; This felt so real. I was excited for everything to finally begin.

"Welcome to my world," The figure's voice boomed. "I am Kayaba Akihiko, the creator of this world. I'm sure you have noticed already that the log out button is missing; this is not a defect in the game. Rather, it is a feature of Sword Art Online."

I glanced at the people around me (which thankfully included Kirito and Klein) and sobered up. Maybe this didn't affect me, and maybe these people weren't real, but this was real to them. Besides, acting happy in this situation would be suspicious, and the last thing I wanted was this to turn into one of those dreams where everyone hated me.

Kayaba went on to explain the real kicker: "You can no longer log out of Sword Art Online. If someone from the outside were to attempt to remove the nervegear, it would emit a powerful microwave, thus ending your life."

I heard Kirito give a small gasp beside me, posture going rigid.

"He's gotta be joking, right? This is crazy." Klein didn't believe what he was hearing. Kirito had to explain that yes, the nervegear did communicate with the brain through microwave signals, and thus indeed had the capability to do what Kayaba said it could.

"Warnings have been sent out to your families, however, some refused to listen. As a result, 213 players are no longer with us." Windows with news channels began floating in front of the figure, each one of them reporting on this information. "As you can see, news of this has already travelled far, and rest assured the chances of your family removing your nervegear after this point are minimal.

"That said, I hope you can relax and attempt to clear the game." I always thought that line was a bit too optimistic on Kayaba's part. Relax? As if. Only someone who truly loved this world could relax, and most players hadn't even known it for a whole day. "Still, it is important to remember: if your HP bar drops to zero, your avatar will be deleted. Similarly, your nervegear will activate the microwave, destroying your brain.

"There is only one way to escape: clear the game. The objective is simple: to clear the game, you must defeat the final boss on the 100th floor of Aincrad. You are presently on the first floor. Defeat the floor boss at the top of the floor's dungeon, and you can advance to the next floor."

Already, people were beginning to freak out. I moved a bit closer to Kirito and Klein; without powers, I would not be able to avoid stampeding players. Kirito and Klein canonically make it out of this okay, so logically I should be safe if I stay close to them. That, and I was worried I'd lose track of them and be bored for the rest of the dream.

"Finally, I've added a gift to your inventories. Have a look."

I'd already seen my inventory earlier, but I reopened it anyway. Perhaps the mirror would be there. I was mildly surprised to see that it was and clicked it, curious as to what I looked like this time. I almost always had a different appearance in my dreams from real life.

The mirror materialized in my hand, giving me an instant to look at my avatar's face before the world went white. My laughter was drowned out by the ringing light of thousands mirrors. In that brief moment, I looked like an OC I had designed specifically for SAO. It was ridiculous and Mary-Sue as heck, and the funniest part? My hair was about to get even more outrageous.

The light died down, and I recognized the two boys in their more familiar appearances. Okay, _now_ Klein looked good. I may not feel most forms of attraction, but I could admit that much. Kirito on the other hand…he was so _young._ I always forgot that he started this adventure at age fourteen. Good grief, I was more than five years older than him!

While I was marveling at these revelations, the two finished gawking at each other and turned to me.

"So…your hair really looks like that, huh." Klein pointed weakly. I couldn't blame him really. Much like multiple Yu-Gi-Oh! protagonists, it was short and tricolored. At least it wasn't spiky. Blonde at the roots, pink on the ends and purple in between, it was pretty noticeable, to put it mildly.

"Didn't your mother tell you it's rude to point?" I shot back, unbothered.

"How did you manage that?" Kirito asked, possibly trying to keep his mind of the bomb that had just dropped on his reality. I truly doubt he cared.

"Well it's a funny story involving bleach, shitty hair-dye, and time, but long story short it was an accident!" I humored him, doing my best to sound upbeat. I wasn't all that bothered by these developments, so it wasn't hard.

"Right now you're probably wondering why." Kayaba cut in, ruining my lighthearted distraction. "Why would Kayaba Akihiko, creator of Sword Art Online and the nervegear, do this? My goal has already been achieved. I created Sword Art Online for one reason: to create this world and intervene in it."

What a terrible reason. Talk about a god-complex! Kirito thought highly of the programmer, though, so it was always hard for me to believe that could be his sole reason for doing this. Honestly, the _parody_ had a better reason! Sadly, I doubted the dream would last long enough for me to get a better reason from him.

"This concludes the tutorial for the official launch. Good luck, players." The giant, reaper-like figure faded out of existence with a pixelated effect.

There was a moment of silence, before chaos reigned.

Taking our wrists, Kirito led me and Klein to the edge of the plaza. "We need to head to the next village. Based on what he said, we need to get as strong as possible, as fast as possible. Resources in MMOs, like money and exp, are limited. Soon the areas around here will be hunted clean. I know all the spawn locations and hazards on the first floor. Even if we were level one, I could get us there safely. Are you with me?" He looked up at us and suddenly stopped, realizing that he'd have to metaphorically carry not just one, but two of us.

Yeah, I figured I'd start affecting things eventually. Still, I'd take him up on the offer, since Klein couldn't. _He was so young._ The road ahead would be hard for him, especially solo. I didn't mind messing with canon if it made it easier on him. What was the harm? It was just a dream. These memories would be mine alone, right? Might as well be a good person and make them pleasant.

Besides, I still couldn't get over how young he was. He didn't deserve the things he'd have to weather even this early in the game. I could be his shield, dampen the trauma he was about to go through. That could be my goal until I had to wake up.

Goodness, was this what it was like to have a younger sibling? How exhausting.

While I was thinking, Klein explained the situation about his friends and he and Kirito resolved to say their goodbyes. He turned to me. "Still think I'm cute, Nanako?"

"Adorable," I answered, and, on an impulse that caught us both off-guard, gave him a hug.

I swear I wasn't this touchy in real life. Dreams are weird, man.

"Go find your friends," I instructed, hands on his shoulders. He nodded quickly and practically fled.

Woops. I think I flustered him.

"I'll take you up on that offer." I turned to Kirito, who looked worried and guilty. "He'll be fine," I reassured, referring to Klein.

"How do you know?"

"Because you taught him. You're the best player here, Kirito." I opened my arms. "You look like you need a hug too," I grinned.

His guilty look morphed into one of fear and he started backing away. "N-no, thanks, Nanako, really!"

Seeing a chance to lighten the somber mood, I advanced until he started running. "You don't have a choice!" I yelled after him.

This time when the wolf spawned, he slashed through it with haste instead of anguished determination. Good. I was already having a positive effect.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thinking back on the parody, can I just say how wounded I was by Kayaba's speech? Tron is my favorite movie, and yes, I HAVE played Everquest. I even heard of someone beating it! Blah. 
> 
> Okay so Nanako's hair is only a slight exaggeration. My hair is indeed all those colors, but considering I haven't dyed it in four months, it's not extremely vibrant anymore. It's the source of many a conversation with my customers at work. It really was an accident. I had my hair a coppery red for a while, but when that started to fade and grow out I decided to go purple. I bleached my hair, but that didn't interact with the red dye right and so wherever the red was, the purple didn't stick. The combination of the purple dye and the bleach turned the red pink. My natural hair color is dirty blonde, so with that at the roots I now have horizontal stripes. It's funny because people make fun of characters in anime for that but here I am with it in real life!


	5. The Forest Quest, Part I

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nanako begins changing things a bit more! But that's okay. None of this is real, right?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Still so excited for this story! I don't want to reference too many things from source material so that I don't just cookie cutter this, but I also want the things that /are/ supposed to be the same to be fairly accurate. This would be easier if I had actually watched or read SAO recently. Sigh. 
> 
> Oh! My big brother finally watched SAO! He's actually seen more of it than I have now, because he's caught up on season three. I love the SAO universe, but I'm so afraid of watching more episodes. The second half of season two was just so BAD. I'm afraid I'm going to suffer too much and fall out of love with it. 
> 
> But hey, that's what fanfiction's for, right?

We ran all the way to the next village, Horunka. I had long since stopped attempting to get a hug and was mostly focused on keeping up. I always sucked at running, but for once it actually seemed manageable. Maybe it was because I knew that in Aincrad the only strain was on your mind?

Rather than going to the inn, Kirito led me to the house of a very specific NPC on the edge of town. It looked exactly how I imagined, even though I had only ever heard it described through fanfiction.

The woman we were here to talk to greeted us at the door. Ironically, (to me anyway) she looked like Edward's mom from Fullmetal Alchemist. Her kind eyes drooped with exhaustion. "I'm afraid you came at a rather bad time, brave adventurers. I can only offer you something to drink before you must be on your way." She took a step back to let us through the door.

Once inside, she offered us warm drinks. I hesitated, but took an experimental sip. It looked like tea, which I wasn't really a fan of, but…was that maple syrup? I was so confused. The drink had the thickness of water but the flavor of syrup. What an interesting combination.

The weary woman returned to the stove where she'd gotten the drinks from to check on the pot that was simmering there. She stirred it silently, adding to the downtrodden atmosphere.

I set down my drink, appetite gone, knowing what she was worried about.

"Is there something wrong?" Kirito asked, activating the quest icon that had appeared over her head.

"It's my daughter," the woman fretted. She went on a lengthy explanation that boiled down to this: her daughter had fallen ill and the medicine from town wasn't working, but medicine made from a little nepent's flower might save her. The little nepents, of course, lived in the forest and it was much too dangerous for the woman to go herself. That's where we came in.

Kirito accepted the quest. Thanking the woman for the drinks, we left the house before she could repeat her explanation.

\---

Kirito didn't talk on the way to the forest, the events of the last hour weighing heavily on him. I wanted to fix that somehow, but what could I talk about? I could jabber about pokemon, or maybe ask a thousand questions about MMOs, or…hm. What could be distracting enough without reminding him that we're stuck here? I was only good at talking about games.

Before I could think of anything, we had already reached the forest. It stood forebodingly, darker than the night sky above it. Eerie hisses and bug sounds emanated from between the trees.

"There's only one type of monster in this forest, but there's a few differences between the individuals." Kirito explained. "Whatever you do, don't hit one with a seed on its head. As long as you mind that, we should be okay." He checked his inventory one last time before looking at me. "Are you ready?"

"Ready as I'll ever be," I replied. I already knew this was going to be a long night, if canon had anything to say on the matter. Hopefully I could keep my focus that long. The last thing Kirito needed was for me to wander off and get lost.

"Then let's go." Kirito entered the woods. I followed behind. Once under the cover of the trees the light of the moon was replaced by a dimly glowing ambiance. I was grateful for the light, though it was still fairly dark. It was better than nothing.

It wasn't until we'd been venturing deeper for a good ten minutes before we encountered our first little nepent. It was about as weird as I expected. Big, pitcher plant body, tiny root legs, thin vines coming from the base, and, of course, the stem on top of the head that would hold either the flower or the seed. That's not to forget the weirdest part, the wide mouth with flat teeth like dentures. It seemed very out of place on the plant monster, but then again, I was unused to MMO monsters. The fantasy ones especially tended to be weirder than I than other things I was used to, like pokemon.

"Nanako!" Kirito's voice came from several feet away.

"Wha—" My sound of confusion was cut off by a the lash of a vine across my front. Ah. That's what he was trying to tell me. Being a level under the monster, the single attack had a considerable knock-back as well as taking a larger-than-comfortable amount of health. I grimaced. This quest was not off to a good start.

"Switch?" I asked sheepishly. Our tactics talk had been brief, but we had at least gotten that far.

"Just please be careful." He charged up a sword skill and took the plant monster's attention off me so I could recover. I held off on the potion, since we'd need those later, but did take a moment to get my head in the game before jumping back into the fray.

Luckily, the acid attacks were easy to watch out for, since they always followed a gurgling sound. The vines were the real problem. Thin and whippy, they were hard to see in the dim lighting even when they were still. It became a battle of intuition, dodging what we could hardly see. What _I_ could hardly see, anyway. Kirito might have equipped the Searching skill already.

After that scuffle, the nepents just kept coming. I took more damage than Kirito did, after all, he'd done this before, but I was getting better at sensing the vines and dodging. Our switch tactics were improving dramatically, and pretty soon we were efficiently taking little nepents down without a sweat. Not that you could sweat in SAO.

We'd been at it for about an hour when we found a safe spot to take a break and were approached by a brown-haired player.

"Hey! I'm Coper. You're beta testers too, right?" He gave us a disarming smile.

Kirito was unsure how to respond, so I answered for him. "Sure we are," I half-lied, "I'm Nanako. The silent one over here is Kirito." I feigned open trust, but in reality I was confused on how to proceed. This guy tries to kill Kirito, which was bad, but he also dies in the process, which was also bad. Kirito would probably blame himself instead of being grateful Coper couldn't try to kill him again. Should I try to save Coper at the risk he'll try again on a less skilled player? Or should I let events happen as canon dictated?

Eh, as cool as it would be to be able to experience canon for myself, it's not like there'd be any actual consequences for changing things. None of this was real, despite what it felt like. Other people dying as a consequence of my choices wasn't real. I made protecting Kirito my goal, right? That included his mental state. He would be upset if Coper not only tried to kill him, but died trying. If I could just nip this whole thing in the bud we'd be dandy.

By the time I tuned back in to my surroundings Kirito and Coper were shaking hands, probably just finished making the deal to work together to find two flowers so they both could complete the quest. Huh. I'd missed the entire rest of the conversation.

"Your plan won't work, you know," I told Coper bluntly. "It relies on the incorrect idea that little nepents won't notice you if you activate your Hiding skill. They rely on smell, not sight, because they don't have eyes." Perhaps there was a better way of handling this, but I didn't feel like figuring that out. The sooner he was no longer a danger, the sooner I could get back to enjoying this world.

As I spoke, Coper's cheerful facade fell away, astonishment taking its place. "Are you this suspicious of everyone you meet?" He tried to recover his credibility.

"Why shouldn't I expect you to try something? Your plan would be the perfect crime, if it worked. But did you really expect to be able to trick fellow beta testers who were smart enough to get this far so fast in the first place?" I cut down his thinking before he could retaliate. If I made it look like I had deduced his plan for myself instead of knowing it ahead of time, maybe my actions wouldn't raise so many questions.

"Nanako, what are you talking about? We just met this guy." Kirito looked appalled at my "assumption."

"Who's this cheerful after an announcement like Kayaba's unless he's faking?" I pointed out. "He's going to hit a nepent with the seed and try to MPK us. He'll die in the process because his hiding skill won't work. I'm trying to save us all the trouble."

If this was the real world, Coper would be sweating bullets. "I-if that's what you think, then I have no reason to work with you. I can't work with someone I can't trust. Good luck without me." The last part was said bitterly. He made a break for it.

I made to follow, but Kirito stopped me. "I think that's enough. He didn't do anything wrong."

"Yet," I corrected. "Haven't you heard the saying, 'keep your friends close, and your enemies closer?' I want him where I can see him. His life is in the balance too."

Kirito sighed. "I wasn't sure how much I trusted him either, but…let's just finish the quest."

"Right." I hoped I hadn't just made things worse. A disagreement with Kirito was not something I had planned on.

A little nepent ambled by the safe spot, cutting off any conversation we might have had. Right. Back to the grind.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Having some trouble with the "show, not tell" this chapter. Kind of just wanted to get this section done. And it also looks rushed, which I didn't really know how to fix. Yes, Nanako jumped the gun, but she figured that getting it out of the way was the best idea. We'll see how that goes.


	6. The Forest Quest, Part II

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The secret's out, and they finish the quest.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's the last chapter for today! The whole gender confusion thing I was talking about in the tags is coming up, but not this chapter quite yet. I guess that's the real test to see if you want to stick with me, heh.

The night went on without any sign of Coper. I suspected he high-tailed it out of the forest once he learned that his Hiding skill wouldn't save him. Hopefully, we wouldn't be seeing him again.

We fought for hours, but the night only continued to drag on. We had already encountered two little nepents with the seed on their heads, but still no flower nepent had shown up. It hadn't occurred to me that it would take longer when the entire forest of monsters wasn't coming down on us at once.

We were both tiring; not sleeping was taking its toll. Though our movements were still quick, reaction times were slowing down as we had trouble staying alert.

"Where'd that safe spot go? I could use a break," I whined. Before Kirito could protest, I continued, "I know you could too; you're getting hit more often."

"The drop rate must have gone down. It didn't take this long in the beta." Kirito muttered. I knew this to be true from the consistencies between fanfiction I'd read, but didn't reply. "I wanted to get this done tonight, but you're right. We'd best get some rest before we get killed from lack of attention. There's no telling how low the drop rate is now. This could take days."

_Unless we hit a seed nepent._ But that would be borderline suicide, so I didn't say the thought out loud. Instead, I motioned my hands in a random direction and bowed dramatically. "Lead the way."

"You have map data too, you know," Kirito mumbled, but, nonetheless, took the lead.

It was on the way to the safe spot that I felt my grip on this reality slipping. Oh no, not yet brain. Not yet! At least let me finish the quest! It was getting harder to detect this world as my senses were becoming more attuned to the waking one. I realized I would not be able to stop this.

"I'm sorry Kirito," I spoke as loudly as I dared, knowing I was also speaking in real life. "I'm waking up. It was nice getting to meet you!" By the last sentence I had woken myself up by speaking too loud, and I was blinking the blurriness from my eyes back in my room. Sunlight streamed through the shear curtains, which was probably what had started the waking process in the first place.

No. Nu-uh. I refused. I was going to finish that damn quest, and _then_ I'd deal with real life.

I rolled over until I was facing the wall so the sun was no longer in my face. Closing my eyes, I relaxed, grasping for that elusive fog that would lead back to dreamland. Runnin' down the dream, you could say.

Once I had surrounded myself in the fog, wireframes began building themselves all around me, quickly solidifying into the familiar evironment of Sword Art Online. That was easier than expected; normally when a dream gets interrupted things change when I get back to it. This time, it only looked like a minute had passed.

"Nanako? Nanako!" Kirito was looking around in a panic. His eyes were glowing, indicating he had activated his Searching skill to look for me.

"Right here!" I got his attention. "Sorry to worry you. That was kind of the opposite of my goal."

"Oh thank goodness," his eyes dimmed to normal and his shoulders sagged in relief. "What was that? Are you okay? You just disappeared, and it didn't look like you were using the Hiding skill."

I leaned against the nearest tree as I got my bearings on being vertical after I had just gone to sleep horizontally. "I'm fine, just woke up for a minute." I rubbed a hand on my face as the exhaustion from the in-dream night's events crashed back down on me. Ugh. This one really was realistic.

"Woke up? That's impossible. The nervegear would kill you if you tried."

A little nepent waddled by. "Let's get to the safe spot, then I'll tell you." I still didn't know what would happen if I got myself killed, whether I'd be able to stay in the dream or not, so I wasn't taking any chances.

Kirito nodded tiredly. "Sounds good."

\---

Back in the safe spot, we practically collapsed to the ground. It had been a long night.

"So what were you saying?" Kirito prompted.

"Um, right. I was saying that I woke up, and you said that was impossible because the nervegear would kill me. See, that's the thing…I could tell you I dropped my nervegear or something so it doesn't work right, but I'm curious to see how you'll react if I come clean." I looked at him to see how he was reacting so far. He looked calm, but suspicious. Disappointing, but understandable. I _had_ been acting pretty strange.

"First of all, I'm not wearing a nervegear, so I'm in no danger if I want to try logging out. The button is still missing for me, but," I opened my menu, "it has been replaced with another function." I toggled the view mode to "all."

Kirito squinted at the bottom of my menu. "'Wake?'"

"Yeah. Here's where your reaction becomes interesting. I'm dreaming. Right now I am asleep in my bed. I'd say you're just a figment of my imagination, but that's mean and kind of self-centered."

Kirito gave me a side-eye. "And I should believe you why…?"

"You don't have to, but you're the first NDC, er, non-dreamer character, who hasn't either pretended I didn't say anything or tried to convince me this is real. Telling them I'm dreaming normally breaks immersion, and SAO is super cool so I didn't want to do that. There's only been a couple NDCs who knew I was dreaming, and that was really weird."

"So why are you telling me then?" Kirito questioned.

"I don't really like lying to people I look up to." I shrugged. "You wanted to know, so I didn't have a whole lot of choice but to answer. Plus I wanted to see if you believed me."

Kirito sat back, thinking. "The way the Hiding skill looks could have changed. You could be pulling my leg."

I tilted my head. "Why would I do that?"

"I don't know, maybe you're crazy. Or, with that different button on your menu, maybe you're a GM who has special access to the game. It makes sense that you'd want to make connections with players to blend in. That doesn't explain why you showed me the button, though. Unless it was an extension of trust, in the hopes that I would trust you in return."

He was overthinking this, but I couldn't be that surprised. To him, what I was saying was impossible. NDCs rarely believed me when I told them I was dreaming anyway.

"How 'bout this:" I started. "I send you a friend request, you accept, and when I wake up, you check your friend list to see what happens. In the meantime, why don't we try to finish this quest?" I was running out of time. If I had already awakened once without outside intervention, that meant my body had gotten enough sleep and was likely to wake up again. This conversation was not what I went back to sleep for. Of course, once I woke up Kirito would no longer exist, and thus be unable to check his friend list, but whatever. Agreeing to this meant we could get a move on.

"Fine," Kirito agreed. "We've wasted enough time. Other players will start getting here soon."

I hauled myself to my feet. "Then let's go!"

\---

The sun had risen by the time we found a little nepent with a flower. We trudged out of the forest, squinting at the daylight. Kirito looked dead on his feet; I'm sure I wasn't much better.

Back in the NPC's house, Kirito gave the woman the little nepent's flower. Her weary face brightened immensely, and she added the flower to the concoction on the stove. A sweet smell began emanating from the pot as she stirred.

She tapped the spoon on the side of the pot to dry it and set it aside, turning back to us. "Thank you, brave adventurers. With this, my daughter can finally get better." She walked over to the fireplace, where a nice-looking sword hung over the mantle. Taking the sword, she offered it to Kirito. "As promised, here is your reward. My husband has passed, so we no longer having anyone with us who can use it. It's in good hands with you, I believe."

"Thank you." Kirito accepted the Anneal Blade and it disappeared into his inventory.

The woman went back to the pot on the stove, stirring it one last time before ladling it into a cup for her daughter. She carried it over to some stairs I hadn't noticed before. "Would you like to see her?" She offered.

Kirito followed the woman up the stairs and into the room where her sickly daughter rested. I stopped outside the doorway, leaning against the wall in the hallway to give them privacy. I wasn't really into sappy things and didn't want to intrude on the moment.

That is, until after the woman left and I heard crying. Oh shit, I forgot that this is where Kirito broke down because Agatha, the daughter, reminded him of his little sister. Quietly creeping into the room, I found him sitting against the wall with his knees drawn up to his chin. I sat down next to him, tentatively wrapping an arm around his shoulders. He didn't have to go through this alone.

It wasn't until he fell asleep against my side that I finally woke up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And so ends our character's first dream! She still doesn't know there's anything weird going on with her dreams yet. Just wait, she'll figure it out eventually.


	7. The Waking World?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Complications arise. The dreams continue!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here they come! The chapters that will determine whether or not you stick with me! Personally, I was pretty excited about this development, but I got some iffy feedback from people on fanfiction. Funnily enough, this story has been much more well-received here on ao3! Even more so than my main story, Playing by Ear, which is more popular by FAR over on ffn. 
> 
> Off-topic but still slightly relevant, I had a couple of multi-night-continuity dreams myself recently! Unfortunately they were more nightmares than dreams, and, even more infuriating, they were based on a time loop. I was stuck in a survival horror type setting, specifically in a building of some sort. The goal was to get out alive. Every time I would escape (or die trying) the loop would reset back to the beginning, only all the hazards were different, so I couldn't use the same tricks twice. This went on for three nights in a row. I died many horrible deaths. 
> 
> Let's not make this an omen, hmmm?

I lay in bed, motionlessly thinking about my dream. Holy crap, that was realistic. I was able to read my menu and everything! Reading was getting easier in my dreams, but it was still worth noting. Actually, the whole dream was worth noting; I had to write this down. Luckily, I still had two hours before it was time to get ready for work, so I had enough time to be as detailed as the dream itself.

An hour later I had finally finished writing everything down on my phone. That gave me another hour to kill before I had to get ready. Hm…chores, games, or anime?

* * *

Work was long and tiring, as I was too busy thinking about last night's dream to pay proper attention and kept making mistakes. By the time my shift was over I was ready to go home and forget the whole day had happened.

Once I got home I didn't even bother changing out of my work clothes, simply flopping onto the mattress. I was out before I knew it.

* * *

Wireframes once again made the framework of my surroundings. I paid them no mind. Something so normal was not worth paying attention to—and they _were_ normal; I was playing a game after all.

But wait, what game was I playing? How did I get here? All the games I knew about were handheld or console, not VR.

…who was I?

It took me a minute to remember all the answers, as if the memories were still loading. My name—or my screen-name anyway, according to my HUD—was Kyou. If I was remembering right, I was a decently skilled swordsman playing the game Sword Art Online. Everyone had been trapped in the game with the cliche condition that if you die in the game, you're dead for good.

I tried to remember more than that, but was at a loss. Maybe the nervegear did something to my brain already? Whatever the case, my memories from outside the game were lost to me.

I opened my menu to check my map to see where I was. I was in a field, which could honestly be anywhere on the first floor. It was weird that I couldn't remember what I was doing up to this point to get here.

There was a dot on the map next to me…

"Please tell me you found an early teleport crystal." A familiar voice caught me off-guard.

I whirled around in surprise before giving a big grin. "Kirito!"

"Do I know you?" Said swordsman was looking at me rather suspiciously. What was with that? Of course we knew each other. Right?

"Didn't we hunt little nepents together?" Or had I imagined that? Was that a dream? I couldn't remember. Why couldn't I remember?

Kirito narrowed his eyes at my honest confusion. "…Nanako…?"

Familiarity struck a chord within me at the name, but that only brought more confusion. That's right! I was Nanako. But I was Kyou? We weren't even the same gender. How could I be Nanako if she was a girl?

My head began throbbing as two dreams fought for dominance in my head, though I didn't know that's what was going on. I gripped my head in an attempt to alleviate the pain, but, being an avatar in a game, this did little to help.

"Nanako?" Kirito asked again, this time sounding worried.

"Call me Kyou," I gasped out. The pain receded, and I was able to think straight again. Thank god. "I thought you weren't supposed to feel pain in this game," I complained once it was mostly gone.

"I think you're the exception," Kirito hypothesized. "Do you remember what you told me in the forest?"

"I don't remember a lot of things," I gave a wry smile, "You're going to have to tell me."

"You—that is, if you really are Nanako—were convinced that you were dreaming. I'm not sure I believe you, but there are not many other explanations for your situation."

"My situation?" Was he talking about my memory problems? Dreaming would explain that at least.

"The way you appear and disappear. I checked my friend list once you left yesterday, and you weren't even on it. I checked the Monument of Life just to be sure, and you weren't on that either." He opened his menu to check his friends list again. "But you, Kyou, are on my friends list now even though I haven't added you yet. Nanako's name is still gone, so I can only assume you replaced her."

Well, dreaming would certainly explain all that. It didn't explain how he could check his friends list while I was awake, but if my memories of doing the Secret Medicine of the Forest quest were so realistic then I supposed that it could just be another thing my subconscious was using to be more convincing.

"If this is a dream, then I don't remember anything from real life right now," I admitted. "This world is as real to me as it is to you."

"Hm," Kirito acknowledged.

"And what are we doing out here again?"

"I'm grinding for experience. You just appeared out of nowhere," Kirito explained. "You're free to join me I guess; we should earn more experience if we party."

"Awesome." I unsheathed the sword that had been hanging at my side. Conveniently, a pack of at least five wolves spawned around us. I took a moment to gape at Kirito as he lunged for the first one; had he been taking these on alone until now?

Who was I kidding? Of course he had. This was Kirito we were talking about.

"Switch!" He called out, and I rushed to take his place with the ease I had developed in the forest. My first attack did not do as much damage as I thought it would—just how high-leveled were these things?! Jesus, Kirito, you're going to get yourself killed!

I quieted my indignant thoughts and focused on the battle at hand. One of the wolves I was engaging lunged to bite me and I had to jump back, ending up bumping into another wolf behind me. Out of desperation I shifted my momentum into a backflip, ending up on my feet on the other side of the wolf I had nearly tripped over. I froze for a moment as the change in orientation and location processed before calling out, "switch!" to take advantage of the wolves' confusion.

We eventually settled back into the sync we'd had last time we fought together. I charged another sword skill. "So," I started after downing a wolf, "I was a girl last time?"

"Yup," Kirito confirmed, felling another.

"Weird."

"Only as weird as you being a guy this time," he pointed out.

"I dunno, feels pretty natural to me." I dodged an incoming bite before retaliating, taking the "life" of the last wolf.

We stood for a moment to review our inventories for spoils from the fight. Nothing interesting; just meat and fur. Perhaps if either of us had picked up the cooking or tailoring skills they were be of use, but as it was they were only good for mats or selling.

The day continued in much the same fashion; by the time the sun went down we were halfway to level four. The levels were going by much faster than I imagined, considering Kirito was only level ten after a month in canon. Perhaps they'd slow down as time went on.

Kirito led me back to the nearest settlement, Horunka Village. I'd thought the small village was merely a two-day pitstop, but apparently the monsters around the next one were too high-leveled for a solo player.

"With your help, we should get there by tomorrow night," Kirito declared.

Well, at least he thought I was good enough to rely on.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So yeah! Kyou is Nanako! Or is Nanako Kyou? Who knows~
> 
> I added this "feature" to the story because, aside from the fact that it's my story and I do what I want, this happens a lot in my dreams. I wouldn't call it a personality split so much as a very convincing, creative, and immersive subconscious. As far as my dreams go, this is pretty normal. I've had everything from amnesia to anger issues to being unable to speak, (none of which are things I deal with in real life) on top of being a different person practically every night. Take it or leave it; It's not meant to be a big deal. 
> 
> If you're willing to continue, the next chapters will be out in a few minutes!


	8. The Next Settlement

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kyou says "I don't need sleep!" and promptly falls asleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Woo, so this chapter is pretty short because I was having a hard time figuring out what to do between now and the first floor boss. I mean, that's an entire month of time! I can't skip that and be like "Oh yeah Kirito and Nanakyou are super close now but you didn't get to see any of that happen" and expect to call that good storytelling. That, and I'm not quite done introducing dream mechanics yet. All this means is that I have to come up with actual original content by myself and I'm not ready -_-

Kirito got a room at the inn once we were back in Horunka, but I wasn't that tired. It would be a better use of my time to go level grinding to catch up with Kirito, who had an extra day on me. Unfortunately, after spending the day doing just that, that didn't sound too interesting either. Who really cared about what level I was? This was all temporary. There was more to experience in SAO than just sleeping and grinding.

I decided to stay in the inn's restaurant and order some food. Of course, the only thing unlocked at this early level was bread, which I'd heard…somewhere…wasn't that good, but it was worth trying. Then I could take the time to go through my inventory and skills and things to see what I'd done as Nanako. Those memories were a little fuzzy.

The waitress NPC brought my food promptly. I looked at my food with disappointment; it didn't even _look_ good. I thanked the waitress anyway and she went on her way. Munching on the sad excuse for nutrients, I duly opened my menu to organize my inventory and review my stats.

My stats were focused on speed and defense, leaving attack and health to increase with level rather than skill points. Alright, I could deal with that. The lack of attack would be a nuisance, and defense wasn't really my style, but I could see why I would choose such a combination in a death game. This way, I could take hits that Kirito couldn't, while avoiding anything else that came my way. Kirito could make up for my missing attack. Soloing like this (not that I planned on it) would make for long, drawn-out battles, but would still be manageable if I played my cards right.

If I played my cards right? What was this, Yu-Gi-Oh?

What was Yu-Gi-Oh anyway? Meh. Probably something from the real world I couldn't remember. A card game, apparently. It wasn't important.

The skills I had chosen were One-Handed Sword and Battle Healing, which seemed like a given. I wouldn't need Searching as long as I stuck with Kirito, and Battle Healing would become extremely OP once I trained it up enough. Acrobatics were be good for dodging and Sprint would be good for going place to place before teleport crystals became an option, but I'd have to wait until more skill slots were available.

Which left my inventory. I'd have to ask Kirito about what mats would be useful and what items were better off selling before I could do anything about that.

With my bread eaten and my menu no longer holding anything of interest, I rested my face on the table. The long day of grinding was catching up with me, and it was likely to be another long day tomorrow. Maybe it wouldn't hurt to rest my eyes…

Of course, that's what they all say, isn't it?

* * *

I woke up from my impromptu nap to discover I was no longer alone in the booth. Kirito occupied the previously empty bench across from me, looking out the now brightly-lit window in boredom.

"Morning, Kirito," I mumbled.

"Hm?" Kirito glanced at me without turning away from the window. "Oh, you're awake. I was worried you were going to sleep all day."

"Couldn't wake me up?" I was kind of notorious for that, but didn't think it would transfer to SAO.

"Players don't respond to outside stimuli when they're asleep," He explained. "They either have to wake up on their own or set a personal alarm."

"Oh. Sorry then." I hadn't meant to fall asleep in the first place, so of course I hadn't set an alarm.

Something tickled at the back of my mind, the many ways something like not waking up could be dangerous, but I pushed it away. I was awake now, and that's all that mattered. I'd be more careful in the future.

"Are we heading out then?" I was eager to get a move on. If I truly was dreaming, then who knew how long I had in this game before I woke up.

"Now that you're awake, yes. Need anything before we leave?"

"Nope."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Short chapter is short.
> 
> I was really debating skipping to the first boss fight, but hell if I'm going to take the coward's way out. I just need to figure out how to make stuff up and decide how much creative license I'm going to be using to describe the game. I pretty much only know what I've seen in the anime and read in fanfiction. So games and manga, where SAO is described in more detail, are mysteries to me. I may get things wrong. That, or I may deliberately change them for convenience or plot. Point them out if you wish, but don't feel obligated I guess?


	9. Asuna

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kirito is already accused of being a ladies man and Nanako thinks about murdering someone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heeeeeey…remember when I said "hell if I'm going to take the coward's way out?" I lied. I totally lied. Here we are, at episode two. I'll try to do better in the future. At least you get almost a full-length chapter?

A month had gone by, both in real life and in my dreams. I'd never had a dream continue for so many nights before. Two nights maybe, but an entire month? I felt like I was going crazy. SAO was as important as the real world, now, because any mistakes I made there would have lasting consequences just like IRL.

The only difference was that one used a game engine, was based on an anime, and my entire identity switched from night to night. Trivial matters, am I right?

With the one month-mark rolling around, I had to start making some important decisions. How was I going to save Diabel? Was I willing to derail the entire plot just to save Kirito some early trauma? What if I made things worse for him in the long run? If Kirito never became the Beater, how much would change?

My memory was hit-or-miss once I entered SAO. Even if I made a plan in the waking world, I was unlikely to remember all of it once I fell asleep. Especially as Kyou. I didn't know what it was about being Kyou, but I became much more immersed when I was him. As Nanako, I seemed to have a better grasp on my memories, which also allowed for a bit of lucid dreaming. Minor things; nothing life-changing so far. Well, not for my dreams anyway. For Kirito, that was another story.

"Nanako, you're floating again…" Kirito warned me under his breath. He subtly pushed me back down onto the seat. Right. Lucid dreaming meant giving myself my regular dream powers, which I sometimes lost control of. Maybe that hadn't been the best idea, but it was too late now. At least they only appeared as Nanako.

"Thanks," I muttered back. It wouldn't do to have someone see and think I was some kind of hacker. Even worse, Cardinal could notice and try to delete me. Maybe the dreams would stop, but…at this point, I had accepted SAO as my second reality. Maybe it WAS reality, somewhere, and if that was the case, that would be a pretty awful farewell to Kirito on my part.

Which brought us back to the here and now. We were at the first boss meeting, which had just started. I already knew the dialog pretty well, as I had rewatched the anime once I'd realized the dreams weren't going away anytime soon in order to prepare myself.

As expected, Diabel broke the ice with a joke. A lame joke. It wasn't very funny. However, he redeemed himself with his next bit of information: His party had found the boss room.

A hush fell over the crowd.

"We need to defeat this boss, make it to the second floor, and tell everyone in the Town of Beginnings that it is possible to beat this game! It is our duty!"

Let it be said, Diabel knew how to speak to people. With those two sentences, the helpless, hopeless feeling that had been festering for the entire month lifted, leaving motivation in its wake.

"To start off," he continued, "I'm going to need everyone to split into groups of six."

The volume of the small crowd settled down from cheering as groups of friends joined other small parties and larger groups divided themselves up. Somehow, everyone was able to divi up into perfect groups of six except for me, Kirito, and the red hooded figure I knew to be Asuna.

After checking to make sure I was still firmly on my seat (and not a few inches above it), Kirito scooted over to Asuna. "Um," he started. I tilted my head in interest; I didn't remember their conversation starting that way. Was that my fault? "Boss raids are difficult to do solo. Do you want to join us?"

"Us?" Asuna echoed.

I waved with a grin. Asuna was so awesome in the first half of the anime. The rest of the anime wasn't very good for her, but she really shined in Aincrad. She was probably one of the many reasons I loved the first fourteen episodes so much.

She seemed surprised by my exuberance, which was understandable; there weren't many people who were actually happy to be stuck here. Not that I was stuck—which might be the reason for the difference in my mood from other players', actually.

While she was distracted, Kirito sent her a friend request. She had just enough time to accept when and angry cactus-haired player jumped down from the stands.

Ugh, here we go.

"Hold up!" The player shouted. "My name's Kibaou. I have something to say before we take on the boss. Some of you here need to apologize to the two thousand of us who have died so far!"

"Kibaou, are you talking about the beta testers?" Diabel frowned.

"Of course I'm talking about the beta testers!"

I tuned out the rest of his speech, instead putting a hand on Kirito's shoulder. He was shaking. Jumping at the touch, he looked to me to see what it was about. "Just watch," I whispered with a smile. "He'll get what's coming to him." _For now._

Kibaou did rise to some power later, which was concerning, but I couldn't do anything about that now.

_Except kill him,_ a part of me thought, unbidden. But even in a dream I'd rather not do that. Despite the setting, consequences lasted here. I didn't want that on my shoulders unless it was justified. And as poisonous an influence as Kibaou was, I didn't think I could get others to see it my way until it was too late.

"May I speak?" A new, imposing voice interjected.

Kirito looked at me, wordlessly asking, _Is this it?_ My grin widened with mischievous glee in response, so he turned his attention back to the new speaker.

The speaker stood up, towering over Kibaou, who visibly paled at the sight. There may not be blood in SAO to make a person's face color or pale, but the system's ability to read and portray a player's emotions was a remarkable replacement. "My name is Agil. Kibaou, tell me if I understand you correctly. You're saying that because the beta testers didn't take care of the new players, they need to apologize, take responsibility, and provide compensation. Right?"

"Y-yeah," Kibaou stuttered, regaining some confidence.

Agil held up a book. "You picked up one of these, didn't you? They were provided in the shops for free."

"Sure I did." Kibaou crossed his arms, looking uncomfortable. Was he lying, or did he see where this was going? Both maybe?

"The information in these books was gathered and compiled by the beta testers. They were available to everyone, and still many players died. I thought we were here to discuss how to move forward, and defeat the floor boss." He sat back down. Kibaou grumbled some, but sat back down as well.

"So I take it we can resume," Diabel got everyone's attention back on him. He proceeded to explain the situation with the boss using information from the guide book. Rules were laid out, like "the party who defeats the boss gets the exp" and basically finders keepers on item drops.

It was all stuff I already knew, though it was interesting to hear it in person. Sometimes it still felt like I was intruding on some massive anime reenactment, mucking it up by being right in the middle of it alongside Kirito. That normally only happens as Nanako. As Kyou it's merely a strong feeling of deja vu, unless I get particularly distracted, then I might actually remember what's going to happen next.

The meeting adjourned, and the crowd of players thinned. I wondered where Klein was. Why couldn't he make it to the boss meeting? Were his friends not up to level yet?

"Come on Nanako, there's something I want to talk about where we won't be overheard." Kirito stood up to leave.

"Huh? Okay." I followed. For wanting to experience this world as much as possible before the dreams went away, I sure did get distracted a lot. Stupid ADHD. Stupid short attention span.

And there I went, getting lost in thought again. Luckily, my surprisingly effective autopilot kept me following Kirito out into town without issue.

Asuna was talking to me, I realized. "How do you not get harassed by guys all the time without a hood?" She asked quietly.

"Hoods are great, don't get me wrong, but I also like being able to see. I don't have the Searching skill, so obscuring my vision is a no-go," I explained. "As for getting harassed by the male population? Kirito and I tend to stay away from people." That one would be tough to explain until I could trust her with the whole 'I'm dreaming' bit, so I didn't elaborate. "Even if we didn't, there's still eight _thousand_ people in Aincrad. Unless they're merchants or clearers, I'm unlikely to see anyone in particular again, so I don't have to beat around the bush being nice when I turn them down. If you quash their hope they don't try again."

"Sounds…effective?" She tried.

"Eh, it works." I shrugged. I worked in customer service, so I was happy being nice to people, but I could still put my foot down when I needed to. And when guys thought they could interest me in romance, I definitely needed to.

I was surprised Asuna didn't have that confidence, but I supposed she was still getting used to not being under her parents' thumbs. She wouldn't get the kind of confidence she had as the KoB's second-in-command until she got used to fighting for herself.

Kirito was listing off places to talk, when he mentioned our current room, and the fact that it just so happened to include its very own bath. Asuna perked up immediately, and suddenly I remembered where this was going. I would have choked from sudden laughter had this been real life. As it was I could get away with just an amused smile.

Asuna whirled around and gripped Kirito's shoulders. "Are there any other places with a bath?" She asked urgently.

"N-no, I rented the only one," Kirito stammered.

She deflated a bit, before haggling until he agreed to let her use the bath. Pushover.

* * *

Kirito sat, face red, in the living area of the farmhouse while Asuna was in the bath. He was trying so hard to focus on the guide book, but I could tell he wasn't absorbing a word he read. Teenagers.

I was floating near the ceiling, testing to see which powers worked in this digital environment. So far, it was just flight and occasional intangibility. Invisibility had been replaced by the Hiding skill, as I got an error message every time I tried to use it. I did not have the Hiding skill, having used my third skill slot on Acrobatics. The skill was a bit redundant as Nanako, what with the flight, but would be very handy as Kyou.

My item creation power was also replaced with skills I didn't have, such as blacksmithing, tailoring, and plain item creation skills. Telekinesis would only work on items from my inventory, sadly. I didn't have the ability to create duplicates, I couldn't bend the elements, and I couldn't control myself from third person. Honestly, I should be grateful. Whether it was for the powers I did get or the fact that I didn't have to hide too many, I wasn't sure, but I should be grateful nonetheless.

Kirito, surprisingly, (but was it, really?) wasn't paying attention to me at all despite the unusual things I _could_ do. I tried twirling my sword with telekinesis to get his attention, but no such luck. It wasn't until I stabbed it through my intangible body that he finally looked up.

"Nanako! What are you doing?!"

I let the sword float back to its sheath. "Trying to distract you, obviously."

Kirito looked annoyed. "I know you're dreaming and all, but try to be careful, would you? Haven't you heard that when you die in your dreams you actually _die?"_

I huffed. "Well my subconscious never got that memo, because I used to die in my dreams all the time. I've only been careful here because it's a death game, and I'm worried this might actually be reality somewhere. But it worked, didn't it? You're not thinking about Asuna anymore."

Oh, oops. Now he's probably thinking about her again. Boys.

Someone knocked on the front door.

Immediately in a panic, I dropped to the floor with a thud. I'd kept my unusual situation under wraps with everyone but Kirito so far; I didn't need to get found out just 'cause I was messing around.

Kirito closed the guidebook, relieved at the distraction. Letting in the mystery player, I relaxed when I saw it was only Argo. She'd probably find out about my situation pretty soon, if we're being honest. I was putting that off for as long as possible, though, since she could sell that information as soon as she found out.

"Hey, Nan-chan!" She greeted. There was a strange glint in her eye as she spoke. Had she already figured it out? Then she turned her attention to Kirito, and it was gone. "Kii-bou, your buyer has made another offer."

"You know my answer," he responded, uninterested.

"Just doing my job," she said cheerily. "But you might change your mind when you hear the price. 39,800 col."

"Holy shit," I whispered. I hadn't understood how much that was reading about it, but now that I've actually had to grind for col myself I knew that that was a LOT.

"Who's the buyer?" Kirito asked. So far, he hadn't asked, but this was getting ridiculous. How many times did he have to say no before this mysterious buyer got the message?

Argo made a face. "He didn't pay to protect his identity this time, so I guess I can tell you. It's Kibaou." With that, she headed to the bathroom, presumably to take advantage of the bath.

With Kirito lost in thought, I could see this one coming from a mile away. "Argo, wai—" I tried to step in, but it was too late; she'd already opened the door.

There was a shriek from Asuna and suddenly there was an angry female in a towel headed for Kirito. Knowing what was about to happen and not wanting any part of it, I thoughtlessly turned intangible as I backed up to the other side of the room. Through the couch. Woops; hope no one saw that. Luckily, the wall was a boundary I couldn't cross, intangible or not. Maybe I just didn't have enough control yet.

There was a resounding crack as Asuna slapped Kirito in the face before she retreated back into the bathroom, slamming the door behind her.

Kirito looked lost.

I let my shoulders drop in relief. I was not a target today.

"I think I misjudged you, Kii-bou," Argo grinned slyly. "First Nan-chan, now Aa-chan? You womanizer!"

I almost did choke from laughing this time. Dear god, Argo, I forgot how funny you were.

"It's not like that!" Kirito tried to save himself. "Nanako's—"

Getting ahold of myself, I cut in, "Kirito's like the little brother I never had. I could never—" I was lost to yet more laughter.

"Uh-huh," Argo looked like she was going to lord this over us for a while, "I'll leave you to it, ladies-man~!" With that, she left.

It felt like a tornado had gone through.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Despite skipping to episode two to stop myself from getting stuck like I did during the last chapter, writing this chapter was pretty hard. I kept thinking of the parody! I had to look up the actual canon dialog just to make sure I stayed on track. Maybe I really do need to watch the episodes again…


	10. The First Floor Boss

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The first floor boss! Surely nothing _bad_ is going to happen, right?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the wait again! I've been working nonstop.
> 
> If you're wondering why I didn't include Kirito's initial meeting with Asuna in the labyrinth, it's because Nanakyou wasn't there for that, as she had been in the waking world.

The doors to the boss room were large and imposing, which, for all I knew of symbolism (which wasn't much), could be meant to reflect the boss itself. If memory served, it was also large and imposing.

I hadn't woken up since the boss meeting; in fact I was kind of worried I'd wake up before the boss raid was done. I couldn't save Diabel if that happened.

That was another interesting thing: Coper was here. Saving Kirito, and by extension, him, meant that he could go on to become a clearer. He noticed me early on as the raid group traveled through the labyrinth and made sure to stay far, far away. It was almost as if he thought I could read his mind. Sorry man, that power's not working.

He probably wouldn't be causing any trouble. At least, I hoped he wouldn't. Knowing the underhanded tactics he would have used against Kirito had I not been there, he may very well go after the Last Attack Bonus like Diabel. How would they interact then? Would they trip over each other and bicker? Would they both die?

_No. Neither one is going to die._ I was going to stop them. It'd hurt Kirito to see them die, and I wasn't allowing that. Woe be unto anyone who tried to hurt that boy; he could take care of himself, most of the time, but why should he have to when _I'm_ here?

Diabel's short speech brought me out of my thoughts. "I have one thing to say: let's win!"

He opened the door and the entire raid rushed into the boss room. Asuna, Kirito and I brought up the rear, as we had the entire way here. Just like canon.

Across the room, Illfang sat on his mighty throne. Upon our entry he rose to his feet, and the dark room lit up with rainbow pastels. Sentinels spawned in front of him with a quiet _ding!_

"Commence attack!" Diabel shouted, commanding each group with planned instructions.

The raid group rushed forward as ordered as squad F, aka the three of us, fell onto the nearest sentinel. Kirito hit the mob's blade up and out of the way, allowing Asuna to get a hit in front. While they did that, I jumped—with some flying assistance, shush—over the monster altogether to attack it from behind.

It never stood a chance. Within a few short minutes its HP had been depleted to zero, long before the other groups of six. We stood by to recover from the rush and see how the other groups were doing.

The other sentinels were at about a third of their health, and the boss had lost about half of its first HP bar.

The anime doesn't really prepare you for how long a boss raid takes.

Luckily, we didn't have to wait around long. With each HP bar that was depleted, a new wave of sentinels spawned, giving us something to do. All the while I watched and waited for Illfang to switch weapons.

At last, the time came. Everyone stood back as Illfang threw his axe and buckler aside, instead drawing a nodachi. I heard Kirito gasp beside me.

Oh, right. I should have done something sooner.

_I should have done something why didn't I do anything—_

I heard Diabel say to stand back as he rushed forward. I heard Kirito try to warn him.

I did not hear the sound of my feet running across the room as I raced after him. I didn't realize that in my haste, my feet never actually touched the ground.

I could grab him and turn us intangible. Surely they wouldn't turn on me for having powers if I used them to save a life, right?

Illfang was jumping around the ceiling now. I only had a few moments.

I ran into Diabel with enough force to wind him had this been real life, grabbing onto him. It was not enough to dodge the nodachi's strike, but with intangibility it should go right through us.

And go through us it did. But intangibly? It did not.

We were thrown back into the floor, rolling a bit as I let go. I watched in horror as Diabel's HP plummeted. I materialized a potion to save him—I was here before Kirito, maybe being here sooner would save him—but he instead pointed to my own falling health bar.

Shit. _Shit._ My build was speed and defense, surely I could survive one hit—

But no, apparently not. I looked up in fear and regret as Kirito dropped to his knees beside us. "Nanako! Diabel!"

Drinking that potion wouldn't save me. I despaired that I tried so hard to make things easier on Kirito only to become one of his burdens, his guilty regrets. The most I could do now was encourage him, show him that I had faith in him. Who knows, maybe…maybe this wouldn't stick. It was just a dream, right?

Diabel ignored Kirito's offered potion. I drank mine, just to give myself a little more time. Enough time to wait for Diabel to say his piece so I could say mine.

I saw the slight relief in Kirito's posture when he saw me drinking the potion and traitorous tears leaked from my eyes, knowing I was giving him false hope. Damn Kayaba's clever emotion-portraying programming; I didn't want to cry for this.

Diabel shattered. My HP, which had halted its descent since drinking the potion, returned to it's downward journey. It was now or never.

Don't make it cheesy, don't make it cheesy—

"I'm with you, Kirito. Don't give up!"

My world shattered.

Only…it didn't?

I blinked. Or tried to, anyway. I looked down at my hands, only they weren't there. I tried moving forward and that worked, oddly enough. Was I some kind of ghost?

Well, at least I was still here. Even if I wasn't? My avatar wasn't, anyway.

All I could do was passively watch Kirito's face as his grief had to be put on hold in order to save the raid.

Things continued on as they did in canon. Asuna offered her help; Kirito pushed his feelings aside for the sake of the raid. They worked together to attack the boss.

When they were forced to stop and rest I saw Coper about to try to steal the Last Attack bonus. I let out a stern, "Coper…" before I could think better of it. He stopped in his tracks, eyes wide like he'd seen a ghost. Or heard a ghost?

So I _did_ still have an influence on the living. Good to know.

After threatening to haunt the almost-MPKer to his grave and shout his presence to the world every time he used his Hiding skill, I left him alone. I think he got the picture.

I wanted so badly to talk to Kirito, but I didn't want to distract him. There was no way I could think of that I could prevent him from becoming a Beater without everyone hating beta testers. Not unless I threatened Kibaou into silence, but he could always start up rumors outside the boss room, which could be just as deadly.

Maybe I should have killed him when I got the chance.

But no, Kirito wouldn't have liked that. And if I'd have tried to hide it from him, it wouldn't be hard to put two and two together. 'Hey, where'd Nanako go?' 'Didn't you hear? That loud guy at the boss meeting was killed!' Yeah, no. Not doing that.

It was too late anyway; while I was lost in thought, events went on without me. I could hear Kirito's sinister laughter from here.

"Beta tester? I wish you wouldn't lump me in with those newbies." He really was quite convincing at the whole 'you're all below me' thing. "The one-thousand beta testers were all beginners who didn't even know how to level up. You're better than them. But I'm not like them. I knew the boss's technique because I fought monsters with katana skills on floors way above us.

"I know a lot more. Way more than any information broker."

In that moment, Kirito looked like a villain. A young and misguided villain, but a villain nonetheless.

"That's…" Kirbaou looked like he'd had the breath stolen from him, and not in a good way. "That's worse than a beta tester! You're a cheater, a beta tester and a cheater!"

"A Beater!" Someone else piped up.

"Bea~ter…" Kirito tested the new term. "I like it. From now on, don't confuse me with the other testers." Hitting a button on his menu, he equipped his new Last Attack bonus: the Coat of Midnight. It flared dramatically behind him before settling.

He walked to the stairs with his calm facade still firmly in place. You wouldn't know the effect this was having on him unless you could see his face, and/or spent time with him as I had. It wasn't pretty.

Asuna was the only one living who dared follow him. "Wait."

He stopped. I could see the dread stiffening his posture.

"You called my name earlier," Asuna went on.

"I'm sorry I called you by your first name. Or did I pronounce it incorrectly?" Kirito's voice was level and controlled. I was amazed at his acting skills, considering how he almost gave himself away as a beta tester during the boss meeting.

Asuna didn't care about any of that though. "Where did you learn it?"

"There should be another HP gauge around here, right?" He motioned his hand around the left of his field of vision. "Isn't something written next to it?"

"Ki-ri-to?" Asuna sounded out the name written below her own HP gauge. "Is that your name?"

Kirito nodded, teeth gritted. I noticed he wouldn't look at the left side of his own vision. Why was that?

Oh. Was it because my health bar wasn't there? _Oh, Kirito, I'm so sorry._

"Oh, it was there the whole time, heh." Asuna tried to make a self-depreciating joke to lighten the mood. I could appreciate the sentiment, as humor was one of my own coping mechanisms in times of crisis, but I didn't think now was the time.

"You'll be strong," Kirito said, beginning his farewell. "If someone you trust ever asks you to join a guild, do it. There's a major limit to what you can do as a solo player."

"What about you then?"

Kirito's bangs shadowed his face. He left without a word.

* * *

Once on the second floor, Kirito activated the teleport gate and booked it to the nearest alleyway, presumably to get away from players who would come through after him. At first I thought it was because he had just declared himself an enemy, which could still have been part of it, but then I heard the first sob.

Oh my god, Kirito, _I'm so sorry._ I couldn't say it enough, but he didn't hear me over the pounding of his feet against the ground and his own sobs. I reached out to put a hand on his shoulder, but of course nothing happened, as I didn't have an avatar to do so with.

He ran through alleyways until he finally reached a dead end. He sank to the ground. His sobs faded into weeping, and I was finally able to make myself heard.

"Kirito, I'm still here."

He looked around, wiping his eyes. "N-Nanako? How are you—I thought—"

"That SAO could kill me without a nervegear? Or that I'd wake up and never be able to get back?" I finished for him.

He leaned his head back against the wall, finally able to calm himself a bit. "Yeah."

I would have nodded if I could. "I thought thought that too. Er, the second one at least. But dying's never really stopped my dreams before, so I guess this isn't any different. I'm still here, I just don't have a body."

"That's…good?" Kirito seemed unsure, which was understandable.

"It beats leaving you to become a Beater by yourself," I pointed out. "Hopefully I'll have a body next time I end up here. I'd hate to be stuck as a voice forever. I'd be like Aincrad's version of Navi or something."

"Navi?"

Kirito had never heard of Navi?! "You poor sweet child, oh my god." Unfortunately, it looked like a talk for next time, as my world began to blur. "Kirito, I think I'm waking up. Chin up! I believe in you!" With the cheesiest thing I'd said yet, my consciousness faded from the world of Aincrad.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ocarina of Time was surprisingly fun! Surprising because I actually didn't like it at first—it was too hard to figure out what to do next, even with Navi. Personally, I only started to find her annoying when she was trying to get me to go to the shadow temple when I was in the middle of the spirit temple. Same with her telling me to go to the fire temple when I was in the water temple. Other than that, she was helpful! I mean, try playing the game without Z-targeting! Navi's the one who lets you do that. (funny story, I didn't know Z-targeting existed for the longest time—so I really was playing without. it made the game much harder.)
> 
> Speaking of the water temple. though, that place was awesome! Took me forever to get all the chests, but it was really fun! Dark Link scared the shit out of me though; I was not expecting that at all. My yell of fright scared all the cats from the room and made my mom jump in the other room. 
> 
> Last thing about OoT because this is an SAO story, not LoZ. I posted a one-shot about the Ocarina of Time co-op randomizer I did with my best friend Niki. It's pretty funny if I do say so myself.


	11. Whiskers

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kyou discovers the downside to being able to leave Aincrad at any given time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's a more lighthearted chapter to make up for the angst of last chapter. It's short and sweet.

This time when the wireframes formed around me, I found myself standing in a secluded area with a gigantic rock. Kirito was punching it. Wasn't this that quest I'd heard about somewhere? The one that gave the Martial Arts skill?

"Ah, I see I have another potential student!" An elderly voice came from behind me, causing me to jump. "Young man, would you like to learn a martial art?"

So easy? No long spiel to listen to? Great! I accepted the quest despite the niggling at the back of my mind telling me it was a bad idea. Kirito was doing it, right? He knew what he was doing.

Then the old man turned around and produced a paintbrush, and I remembered what the niggling was trying to tell me: once you accepted the quest, the old man would paint whiskers on your face. There was no way to remove them until you completed the quest.

Oh my god, I was going to be stuck with whiskers until I broke that godforsaken rock with my bare hands.

I tried to dodge the brush, but the old man was surprisingly nimble. "These are—" he managed to pain the first line on my cheek, "—the marks—" and another two lines, "—of the student!" To my despair, he completed the set on the other side. "Wear them proudly."

I glared at the NPC, but it was too late. Rubbing my face made no difference; the whiskers didn't even smear.

Kirito turned around, his face lighting up at the sight of me. "Kyou! You're alive!" Then he stopped and snickered. "Nice whiskers, man."

"Yeah yeah, you too," I grumbled. At least I wasn't alone in this. "Any tricks I should know about before I get started?" I took off my gloves and let them vanish into my inventory. No need to damage them by slamming them into a rock repeatedly.

Kirito shook his head. "I asked Argo, but she said there was no trick. You just have to hit the rock really hard." He sighed. "I've been at this since this morning."

"Ick." I approached a second rock not too far from Kirito's. "Here goes!"

I threw a punch at the rock with as much force as I could muster, only it never hit. Well, it never hit the rock anyway.

"Ow, shit!" I cradled my hand, which was now blazing with pain. Next to me, there was a hole in the wall where my fist had gone through it. Yep, the _wall._ I'd punched the wall next to my bed so hard I woke myself up. It wasn't the first time I'd put a hole in my wall, (in fact the last one still needed to be patched) but it was the first time it'd happened from a punch. Last time I'd punched the wall in my sleep, it'd hurt like a bitch but hadn't even left a mark.

"Dammit!" Kyou, and who knows, maybe even Nanako, was going to be stuck with whiskers forever! And now my room was going to smell even more like drywall, or insulation, or whatever the hell that smell was.

Well, there was no way I was going back to sleep with that rush of adrenaline. Sighing, I got up to get some ice.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you've read Playing by Ear you might already know this, but several months ago I kicked a hole in my wall in my sleep. I didn't even wake up from it, which was the weird part. I still haven't fixed it.


	12. Floor Two, Part Two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kyou's ADHD shows through. Also he angsts.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So if I were to follow my three-chapter pattern, this would be the last chapter I post today. However, I'm pretty excited about the next three chapters, so there's a chance I may post them too after I get some chores done. Good news is, as of now we're only three chapters away from being caught up with this story on fanfiction! I can't say the same for Playing by Ear...

True to my fears, the next time I entered SAO I still had the whiskers. Maybe as the playful Nanako I wouldn't mind, but as the more serious Kyou? What a nightmare.

Or at least, that's how Kirito explained it. I didn't really remember being this Nanako person he told me about. But it would certainly explain the gaps in my memory. Of course, there were other explanations far more rational than, "yeah, you're dreaming, and you're not even you half the time," but Kirito didn't seem the type to lie about something like that. Who could even come up with something that crazy?

Regardless, I had whiskers now, and they were permanent. Yay. Good thing I liked cats.

As it was, the not-so-solo player was still trying to break his boulder. I remembered hurting my hand the last time I'd tried hitting it (which was strange—wasn't pain supposed to be impossible here?), so I instead focused on increasing my sword proficiency. Sword skills leveled up with use whether or not they were used against an enemy, so all it took to level up the skills was repetition, and a lot of it.

I had already unlocked a couple of new sword skills when there was a victorious crow from Kirito and what sounded like an explosion. I was delayed from checking on him by the post-motion delay, but I could only assume he had managed to do what I could not: break that damn boulder.

Finally released from the temporary freeze, I was free to look and confirm my suspicions; Kirito hadn't just cracked the boulder, but shattered it.

Jeez. Overpowered much?

I felt like there was some kind of joke to be had there, but couldn't put my finger on it. Oh well. Probably something I couldn't remember at the moment. This whole dream-amnesia nonsense was annoying as heck.

"Congratulations, student! You have mastered the Martial Arts skill. There is no longer anything I can teach you." The old man NPC produced a cloth and held it out for Kirito. "This should remove your student marks, signifying your graduation from my teachings."

Kirito hastily took the cloth and wiped his face, cheekily smirking at me with his now whisker-free baby-face. Yeah. Great.

"If you're quite done, Kirito, we should go train up some experience. We're three days behind the other clearers now," I pointed out.

"Right," he acknowledged. Looking around the secluded alcove we had been training our skills in for the last three days, the only exit I could find was the way Kirito and Argo had come in. I had kind of just poofed here, so I hadn't gotten to experience what was apparently a natural (or as natural as something could be, being in a game) water-slide type thing.

"Is this the exit?" I asked the old man.

"Sure is! Just step in and let the water take you away! However, you have not completed your task. Do you want to continue trying, or do you give up?"

I hated quitting, but knew that success was impossible for this particular task. "I give up," I ground out. _I regret this already._

On the bright side, giving up allowed you to change the color of the whiskers. After a quick debate about whether to keep them black or not, I elected to make them a dark green. I might as well at this point. Making them a unique color might make them look deliberate rather than against my will.

With that out of the way, all that was left was to leave and find a good place to grind for exp.

"Ready?" Kirito asked me.

"Anything I should know?" I returned, slightly cautious. Surely Kayaba wouldn't put rocks in the waterway, right?

He thought for a moment, before settling on, "It's fast. Holding your breath is more for mental health than physical. You can't choke in here."

"That's not reassuring at all," I complained, but forced myself to relax. It's not like I could die from this, right? If what Kirito said was true? I steeled myself. "Whatever; I'll go first." Whoever went through first would likely clear out anything in the way, if Kayaba really was that cruel, and I'd rather it be me than Kirito.

Kirito took a step back, holding his arms out dramatically. "Lead the way then."

"Alright." I stepped into the fast-flowing spring, expecting to have to wade in before being swept up, only to immediately be swept off my feet. "Oh shi—" the rest of my exclamation was lost as I was pulled under, the world becoming black as the flow took me underground. I saw a timer under my health bar, indicating how long I could stay underwater without drowning.

Dang. I hated limited-swim mechanics.

The next thing I knew I was spat out into a spring. Surfacing quickly, I barely had time to get my bearings and get out of the way before Kirito was spat out where I had just been.

"Damn, that was some rush! Think you could find the entrance back?" I asked him with child-like excitement. So maybe I was a bit of an adrenaline junkie. Fight me.

Kirito gave me a funny look, as this was perhaps the most animated he'd ever seen me as Kyou, before reminding me that we were going to grind for exp. "Besides," he admitted, "I don't think I could find the entrance back even with a map; it was pretty well hidden."

Aw. So much for that.

* * *

It didn't take long to discover that my exp and leveling was connected to Kirito's; Every time I "logged in," My level would be equal to his regardless of what it was the last time I had been asleep. It was somewhat concerning to be relying on someone else's actions for something as important as leveling up, but if I could trust anyone to do it, it was Kirito.

Skills and stats, on the other hand, relied completely on my own actions. With every level gained, whether by my own effort or not, the skill points I earned were up to me to allot to a given stat. I also had to unlock sword skills myself, and any skill proficiency also came from my own use of them.

This meant that I couldn't rely on Kirito to grind for exp while I did other things (not that I would leave him out of the safe zones alone if I could help it), as I would fall behind in my sword skills and proficiency if I did.

I had yet to become Nanako since the first floor boss. I vaguely remembered something bad happening—Kirito had declared himself a Beater? And then I found him crying in an alley?—but it was so hard to make out in my memory that I couldn't tell you what had happened exactly. Kirito said I'd died, but I was obviously still here, so I didn't know how much stock to put into that.

I clearly had gaps in my memory during the times he told me I was "awake," but was that what was happening, really? I trusted Kirito, but could I really trust him _that much?_ I didn't even know him before entering SAO.

Wait, that was wrong, wasn't it?

I wished I could remember who I was outside of this game.

"Hey, Kyou, you alright?" Kirito was looking at me with concern. Dangit, that was _my_ job. He may have been the beta tester, but I had at least six years on him! I didn't know what it was about him, but I felt it was my job to worry about _him,_ not the other way around.

"I'm fine; just thinking," I dismissed his worries.

"About what?" He asked.

"About my whole situation. The gaps in my memory. Trying to figure everything out is giving me a headache, which shouldn't even be possible in this game!" I let my frustrations boil over into my voice before reigning myself in. Now was not the time nor place.

"Yeah, your situation is pretty weird, to put it mildly. I don't know whether to believe it myself. You could still be a GM in disguise. But I'll give you the benefit of the doubt. If you're being genuine, try not to worry too much. You're in a lot less danger than the rest of us," Kirito tried to reassure me, before returning his attention to the speaker we'd been ignoring for the past minute.

We were at the next boss meeting. The second boss room had been found in about a week rather than the month it took on the first floor, a fact for which everyone was grateful. The turnout for floor two was much better than the meeting on floor one, with almost double the players attending. Between the shorter time it took to find the boss room and the more crowded meeting, clearly defeating the first floor boss had rekindled players' hope.

I did my best to pay attention; I'd had some kind of wacky intuition about certain events, but this wasn't one of them. I had no idea what to expect.

Despite my effort, I found my attention wavering. This speaker was nowhere near as charismatic as Diabel. I felt a pang of guilt at the memory of the blue-haired player, but couldn't remember why.

Damn amnesia.

I shifted uncomfortably, once again aware of the numerous people surrounding me. Kirito and I had been avoiding populated places thus far, thanks to my constant disappearing acts. While I'd never had problems with crowds outside SAO that I knew of, knowing that I could prove myself an anomaly at any given time made being around other people dangerous. Understandably, this changed my outlook on crowds drastically.

Finally, the meeting adjourned, and we were free to go. Kirito looked at me. "How much of that did you manage to absorb?"

I thought back, somewhat sheepish. "Maybe half?"

With an exasperated shake of his head, he reexplained the game plan for the boss raid later that day.

Alright; I could do this. That boss was going _down._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Nothing to say down here. Move along.


	13. Floor Three

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kyou wakes up, Nanako would rather get poisoned than go hungry, and Kirito's exasperation reaches new heights.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I may or may not have run out of inspiration for the second boss fight. From what I've heard it was some kind of cow mob? I dunno, but I'm not a huge fan of that so I miiiiiight have just skipped it. Sorry? 
> 
> Anyway, here we get into a bit that was inspired by an actual SAO dream I had. It might actually be what inspired the whole story! Exciting, right?

The boss battle went off without a hitch; I even got the Last Attack Bonus: a war horn. I wasn't sure of its use yet, but I'd figure it out eventually.

Shortly after the boss battle I felt myself losing my grip on reality. I had to calm my panic; this was what Kirito was talking about, right? I was waking up?

The answer was yes, yes I was. Upon waking I immediately facepalmed, incredulous with myself for _still_ not being able to believe Kirito about my situation as Kyou. Did I have any real reason to doubt him?

I checked my watch. Grumbling about my lack of free time, I went to get ready for work. I could explore floor three later.

* * *

Turns out, floor three was a marsh. A great big sticky marsh that slowed your movement and was chock-full of bugs, killer plants, and slime mobs.

Although, I was starting to doubt the accuracy of my info on that last part. I hadn't seen a single slime since getting here, which was enormously disappointing. Slimes were adorable and no one could change my mind.

Bugs and killer plants, on the other hand, could go die in a fire. If I tripped over one more root I might just snap.

As if on cue, a root snaked its way around my ankle and pulled. With a frustrated cry I materialized my sword from my inventory and, with movements far more deft than I could have pulled off at the start of this mess, severed the root into three pieces.

Landing in the mud with a dull splash, I glared at the offending plant matter. Not that it could get intimidated, but I was just about done playing nice. My patience only lasted so long, after all.

"You're getting faster," Kirito complimented, probably trying to brighten my quickly darkening mood.

I attempted a smile, trying to lighten up for his sake. "Thanks. I think I have your constant leveling to thank for that, though."

"Not necessarily," he disagreed, "stats only control movement speed. Reaction time comes from your own will."

I knew this to be true based on the anime. Kirito had the fastest reaction time, so he got the dual wielding skill. I took the compliment for what it was worth, before focusing my attention back on my surroundings. We could only afford to be distracted for so long, what with how well everything was able to camouflage here.

Way too many vicious mobs later, we finally found a safe spot to rest in. I wasn't sure how long Kirito had been at this since I poofed in after he'd already started, but I could only imagine how he must be feeling if I was as tired as I was.

Bugs' song twittered and chirped and fluttered from all around, reminding me of a rainforest. I didn't know what Kayaba had thought a marsh was supposed to be like, but I felt like the bug sounds were a _bit_ exaggerated. Whatever. It sounded nice, like when I used to go camping with my grandparents and cousins.

A plant-monster floated by, looking suspiciously like a carnivine. I watched it pass just for something to do. I wasn't really paying attention until it stopped, snapping at…a group of blueberry bushes? What were those doing in a marsh?

Suddenly hungry, I got the most _marvelous_ idea: kill the carnivine, eat the maybe-blueberries that could possibly be poisonous, and sleep it off in the safe spot if they were. Foolproof!

Without preamble I rose to my feet and trudged towards the bushes. As soon as I was outside the border of the safe spot my feet began sinking into the mud. Quicksand? Er, quickmud? I slogged forward, ignoring the mud that squelched in my boots and the cold feeling of it rising above my ankles. The closer I got to the bush, the deeper I sank.

I was reminded of the Sinnoh Great Marsh. The image was even complete with the carnivine! By that logic, if I got stuck I could turn in random directions until I popped out on top of the mud again.

I doubted that's how it worked here, though.

The mud was up to my calves by the time the carnivine detected me, swirling around and snapping its flycatcher jaws at me. Since dodging wasn't really an option, I stabbed out with a Linear, catching it in the back of the throat as it tried to bite me. It gagged, somehow screaming as its HP plummeted.

Huh. Must have gotten a critical hit.

The scream caught Kirito's attention, who had been dozing in the safe spot. "Nanako! What are you doing?!"

The familiar exasperation reminded me that duh, I could fly. There was no reason to be slogging through this mud. Unfortunately, the mud kept me grounded, so I was stuck until I got back to the safe spot.

"Blueberries!" I called back. "Aren't you hungry? This is food we don't have to cook!"

"I guess," he grumbled. A little louder, he said, "just be careful! We're supposed to be resting."

"Alright alright," I waved away his concern. I would be careful, but he worried too much.

Once at the blueberry bush, I started picking berries. Popping one in my mouth, I discovered it was juicy like a grape, only blueberry flavored. Interesting. Kayaba certainly had imagination when it came to the food in here.

_Wait—did one of the blueberries just move?_ I watched, just to be sure I wasn't seeing things, suddenly wary. Hopefully the blueberry bush wasn't an am _bush_ mob.

Ha.

Getting back on track, I cautiously reached for the moving blueberry. It sagged, almost like it was too heavy for its own skin. Just before I could touch it it suddenly jumped off the bush! I yelped and reeled back, but with my legs stuck in the mud almost up to my knees I only succeeded in awkwardly falling over backwards.

"Nanako!" Kirito stepped out of the safe spot to help me.

"Wait!" I stopped him, holding up a hand.

Hanging from my hand was the moving blueberry—or, more accurately, the grape-sized slime.

My HP ticked down a fraction. Oh! So it was a Damage Over Time mob! I see, I see. So like a leech, basically. I was slightly disappointed to see slimes get demoted to being leeches, but still, a slime was a slime.

"Do you like blueberries, little guy?" I asked it, materializing one from my inventory. Immediately it jumped over to the hand holding the berry, devouring the orb without hesitation.

A prompt appeared. "You have tamed the Indigo Slime! Please name your creature." Below the prompt was a keyboard and a blinking cursor.

"Let's see…Bloop, or DOT? Blue-purple or Damage-Over-Time…"

"You're going to keep it?" Kirito asked incredulously. "There are lots of better monsters to tame, Nanako. That one will probably get crushed in its first fight."

I finished typing, cradling the little slime close to my chest. "Blasphemous! Bloop is going to be great! I'm sure there's more to him than we know. Isn't that right little Bloopie~" I poked at him as if to tickle him, but instead of shying away he leaned into it, almost tumbling out of the hand holding him when I pulled the other away. I giggled, happy to know he was a glutton for affection.

Kirito cleared his throat. "If you're serious about keeping it—er, him—you should choose some skills to switch to beast-taming related skills, like familiar communication and healing." He sighed. "Come on back to the safe spot before another monster finds you stuck in the mud."

I glanced down at my legs stuck in said mud sheepishly. "Right." Making sure to keep the newly-dubbed Bloop above the sludge-like ground, I trudged my way back to the safe spot.

Once there, I spent the next few minutes switching my Acrobatics and Sprint skills to Familiar Communication and Familiar Healing, as well as familiarizing myself with Bloops abilities. Right now he could absorb a target's health via contact, store it, and use it to either heal himself or me. I was sure that with time, he'd be able to use stored enemy health to heal us both at once. Heck, with his color being what it was, maybe he could poison opponents eventually.

I just had to keep him alive until then.

His stats were understandably low, what with his small size. Slightly higher than the rest were HP and and speed, making them similar to my own. I could work with that.

"Alright Bloop," I got the slime's attention, "I don't want anything to happen to you, so I want you to stay on my left hand, okay? My right hand will be moving too much because I'll be using my sword. When it comes time to fight, I'll throw you at an attacking mob. I want you to latch on and start draining its health. Please pay attention, though; if it notices you, jump back to me. I don't want you getting smashed." I stared at my small jelly friend, who hadn't moved since I started speaking. "…did you get all that?"

Bloop bobbed up and down in an approximation of a nod before jumping to my left hand and wrapping around my fingers.

"Oh my god, you're so flippin' adorable," I cooed. I held my hand up to the sky like Ash might a pokeball carrying a new team member. "I got a Slime!"

Kirito shook his head, exasperated.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I couldn't find a place to explain it in-chapter, but the reason our character was stuck as Kyou for the entirety of floor two is because Nanako got killed by Illfang. If, say, Kyou got killed as well in the middle of floor two, he'd be stuck as a ghost until the second floor boss got defeated. So defeating a floor boss resets the life counter, basically. 
> 
> But the main point of this chapter was getting Bloop! Bloop came from the dream I mentioned in the pre-chapter notes, which was remarkably like this story. I could come and go from SAO as I pleased, and I had tamed Bloop by feeding him blueberries. Oh my gosh I loved my little slime.


	14. The Great Marsh

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nanako is reminded of an old foe: her middle school vice principal.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> At first I wasn't sure what to do for this chapter, but, while on the dive boat on vacation, I got a stroke of inspiration. Who says I can't change things up? Add my own things we never saw in the anime? That's the whole point of fanfiction, right?

After the excitement of taming Bloop, I was raring to keep going. There was a retrieval quest we were supposed to be doing for an NPC in town—apparently they had been attacked and dropped their bag to flee. The stipulation was that if we looked in the bag, we would fail the quest.

Okay, easy peasy. Only we had been all over this marsh, and there was no bag to be found. Clearly we were missing something.

When we passed an unusually blue pond-thing for the third time I stopped. "Something's not adding up. That NPC said he dropped the bag when he was attacked, right? Maybe the mob that attacked him ate it."

"We're probably looking for an area boss then," Kirito surprisingly didn't dismiss the idea. "Since we were told to search an area rather than defeat a specific mob type, that makes the most sense."

An area boss, huh? They normally spawned in areas that stood out, right?

Not unlike the pond we were standing by…

Oh, crap.

"Um, Kirito…?" I started backing away from the water.

"Yes?"

I could see it all going wrong in my mind's eye. Some kind of monster would jump out, bag snagged between its teeth, and bite him in half before I could push him out of the way. It wasn't something that happened in the anime, 'cause obviously he survived that, but considering he hadn't done this quest in the beta, anything could happen.

"Don't you think this pond would be the perfect place for a boss to spawn?"

He looked around at the green and brown setting before settling his gaze on the blue, blue water. "There's certainly something special about this place, but I think if there was a boss here it would have shown up by now. Maybe the water here is for a different quest."

"I'm gonna just…try something real quick…" Once I figured we were both a suitable distance away from the water, I pulled a mob-dropped root from my inventory, using telekinesis to hover it over the water. I'm pretty terrible at throwing things, and it's not like anyone else was this far in the floor yet; no one would see my little show of power.

Nothing happened. Not a ripple or splash in that water.

A mob spawned nearby, startling me into dropping the root. While I was turned around to look for the danger, _something_ jumped out of the water, swallowing the root whole. I whirled back around to see only a splash.

Okay. Big fish? Small pond? I see what's going on. Obviously that's the boss.

"If this is anything like my middle school vice principle, we don't even need to disturb it to get agro," I said half-jokingly.

"I sense a story behind that statement." Kirito readied his sword, changing his stance to easily activate a sword skill if necessary.

"Do I _ever_ have stories about that guy. He literally got mad at me for walking on the grass. Multiple times, because there was no sidewalk."

Kirito took his eyes off the pond to stare at me incredulously. "Seriously?"

I nodded sagely. "Seriously."

"I feel like you're not telling me something potentially self-incriminating."

"Cross my heart, that guy had it out for me. How was I supposed to get to my bus without crossing the grass? It was stupid."

We must have been making too much noise, because the boss, previously keeping to itself, launched itself out of the water and landed on the bank in front of us with a _shplot!_

I was right about it being a big fish, but I had been thinking it was a bass or something. No, this thing was far uglier—and I don't say that lightly; I love fish. A mucky brown in color, two bulbous eyes atop its head, fins like front feet and covered in protective mucus, this thing was certainly not pretty to look at. What was surprising, though, was that it was "ported" almost directly from real life, ignoring the size and behavior; it was a giant mudskipper.

"Ready?" Kirito asked.

"Yup yup!" I confirmed. "Your time to shine, Bloop!" That was all the warning my little slime got before I flung him at the boss. Thankfully, the little guy managed to land on its face instead of getting eaten, like I was more than a little worried was going to happen.

The boss's health ticked down a fraction. Hell yeah.

With a cry, Kirito lunged at the fish, taking a small portion of health with a sword skill. When the thing started gurgling, presumably to spit something at us, he called, "Switch!"

I jumped in, barely dodging the spit attack on my way. I managed to chain a couple sword skills at the cost of a longer post-motion delay at the end of the chain. Unfortunately, this was a mistake; the mudskipper took the time to do a spin attack, and I was unable to dodge it thanks to the delay.

If this had been real life, I was sure the breath would have left my lungs as its tail impacted my front. As it was, I was flung several yards away from the hit, skidding across the pond and acquiring rolling damage despite landing in the water.

"You okay?" Kirito checked in once I was done flinging water everywhere.

Getting my bearings, I checked my health bar: still high green. "Yeah! Speed and defense, remember?" I started swimming back to shore.

"Good," Kirito returned his focus to the boss.

Then the boss jumped, creating a shockwave when it landed. The shockwave crated a real wave, spinning me in the water. I opened my eyes to figure out which way was up, only to see something black at the bottom of the pond. Ordinarily I would assume it was a rock, but I could clearly see a strap floating above it.

Well that was unexpected.

I swam down to grab it, cautious of any other traps that might be around it. We may still be in the early floors, but this marsh had already been full of surprise mobs, and I would not be caught off my guard again.

No such traps existed; perhaps the area boss was supposed to be the trap? Leave it to me to trigger it wrong and ruin the setup.

I checked under my health bar to see how much time I had left underwater, only there was no ticking timer. That was weird; didn't I have a timer as Kyou?

Then again, I had powers I wasn't supposed to have as Nanako, and I could normally breathe underwater in dreams, come to think of it.

Oh my god; I could cheese all the water levels. This was going to be _great._

A splash on the surface reminded me that I had left Kirito to fight the giant mudskipper alone. That wouldn't do. I placed the bag in my inventory and returned to the surface, quietly making my way towards shore so I could surprise the boss mob.

Kirito saw me from across the gross fish, giving a sigh of relief. "I was starting to worry you weren't coming up." He had to dodge another spit attack as he finished his sentence; the fight waits for no one. "Switch!"

"I won't get hit this time!" I accidentally ruined my element of surprise to reassure Kirito, but the boss was slow enough that I was still able to get a couple good hits in before I had to dodge its spin attack. "Switch!"

Kirito went back in as soon as the spin attack finished, finding its weak spot (the retractable eyes) and hitting for critical damage. Then it was my turn. I jumped in to stab the other eye before it could retract back into its head. Together, the two criticals were enough to finish the boss, shattering it like glass.

Bloop fell from where the mudskipper's face had been, bouncing back to me animatedly. I crouched down to be closer to the bouncy little thing. "Good job following directions Bloop! I bet you took a bunch of health from that thing." I squinted at the bouncing blob; hadn't he been the size of a grape before? "Did you get bigger?"

Kirito pointed from over my shoulder at the notifications I'd gotten from the boss. Drops, exp, a new level up…and Bloop went up three levels?!

"Holy carp little guy, you grow fast!" I held out my hand for the now golf-ball-sized slime. "Hop on!"

Bloop made a bubbling noise and hopped into my hand, curling around my fingers. He was so cute I could just die.

"You like that slime way too much for just meeting it," Kirito deadpanned.

"Slimes are adorable. Especially little round blobby ones. You can't convince me otherwise."

Kirito shook his head, giving up. "Did the bag drop for you? It didn't for me." He changed the subject.

"Oh, right!" I materialized the bag from my inventory. "Look what I found at the bottom of the pond!"

"Good, now we can get out of here and go back to town." He looked at our muddy surroundings with distaste. "Did Kayaba really have to include smell in the game?"

* * *

"So Kirito…"

"Yes Nanako?"

"You don't suppose there are any water dungeons around, do you?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So the inside joke in this chapter is that we always said my middle school vice principle had Big Fish/Small Pond syndrome, because he'd go out of his way to assert his authority and push people around. So screw that guy. He tried to give me detention for the whole walking on the grass thing. I had to point out the ridiculousness of it and talk my way out before he let me off with a warning instead. It was a close call.


	15. The Water Dungeon

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kyou and Kirito meet some "friends" in the water dungeon.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Eheheheheh, when one of my friends read the previous chapter she was like "ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT WHO I THINK YOU ARE?!" Yes, yes I was. So just so you know folks, that vice principal was so memorably terrible that I could tell a story about him that she had never heard before, without dropping names, and she knew exactly who he was. Even though we knew him from completely separate places. He was at her school in sixth grade and my school in eighth grade. Astounding. 
> 
> As of this chapter, we are officially caught up to the most recent chapter I've written!

Unfortunately, by the time we found a water dungeon four floors later, I had already gotten myself killed as Nanako, and thus I was stuck as Kyou until we defeated the next floor boss. In my defense, it was me or Kirito, and only one of us had the ability to come back from the dead. Really, the choice was easy.

I may have been a defense build, but it was still too early in the game to be that specialized; as our levels grew so would the gaps in our stats, but until then, they were nothing extraordinary. So taking a direct hit from a mid-boss? After already having taken damage? Yeah, that was death-worthy.

Despite my less-than-stellar track record for staying alive—or, perhaps, because of it—I was starting to make a name for myself. Nanako was anyway, but I was sure it would transfer to me as Kyou soon. It would only be so long before I made another self-sacrificial move after all.

What was the name, you ask?

The Phoenix Blade.

It had a nice ring to it. Apparently, my stunt during the first floor boss and my subsequent return to boss raids afterward had not gone unnoticed, hence the fancy title. Unlike Kirito, I was not referred to as a Beater; I wasn't a beta tester, so the term wasn't accurate. To them, I was just a flat-out cheater. Which, to be honest, seemed pretty fair. No one else could break Kayaba's rules.

I had yet to die as Kyou, much to my relief. It seems I was far more skilled a swordsman than swordswoman. Or maybe I was just less reckless?

Whatever the case, people were starting to put two and two together that there was something up with me—and not just the "how is (s)he back from the dead?!" thing. The fact that only one of us was ever seen with Kirito at a time and we both had Bloop was suspicious, and my disappearing acts were starting to reflect on me badly as well. I assumed that I tried to time my naps to match up with the boss raids (I still couldn't remember anything from real life as Kyou, and trying would just give me a massive headache), but sometimes I missed them anyway. Probably work getting in the way.

With PKers on the rise, repairing my tarnished reputation was quickly becoming important. People had started coming after me, citing my absence during important events and my lack of adherence to the rules as reasons to think I was a GM or was abusing an exploit in some way and not sharing.

Which brings me back to now. Kirito and I had decided to brave the local water dungeon despite my current avatar. The problem? We'd run into another group of players, and they were not interested in letting us leave.

"Look, guys—the Beater and the cheater, right where we want them." A group of four players surrounded the ice hole Kirito and I had planned to use to get out of the cold water, blocking our exit.

The dungeon was an icy cave system, mostly filled with water. There were air pockets dotted throughout, but each one had a surface of ice and a hole so players could have a place to sit and rest without treading water. Some of these air pockets doubled as safe spots, while others contained bat-mobs and had no safe zone.

Unfortunately, it seemed this particular air pocket, though devoid of bats, wasn't a safe spot. These shady players must have cleared the bat-mobs while they were waiting for us.

"What do you say we rid Aincrad of these menaces?" The player who'd spoken before continued.

"Sounds good, Boss," agreed another.

Oh, I did not like the sound of this. I attempted to drag myself out of the water while they were busy talking, but they immediately noticed and kicked me back in. "Not so fast, Whiskers. We're discussing things here."

"Whiskers!" I bristled in indignation. I saw Kirito looking for something to throw, a chunk of ice maybe, in the hopes of distracting them so we could get out. Going back the way we'd come wasn't an option—if we stayed in the water long enough to get to the next air pocket, we'd likely get the Frozen status. It had happened to me once already (Kirito'd had to drag me out of the water), so we knew it was a danger. Already I could feel my movement slowing down, and I could see Kirito's was as well.

"Why are we still talking about this?" The one who hadn't spoken already asked. "Let's just drown them already." With that, he used his boot to push Kirito under. I could see his air gauge begin ticking, and pure, unadulterated hate swept through me like a wildfire.

Why did people keep trying to kill Kirito? He was a good kid. He was too good. He wouldn't even want to kill these people in retaliation.

In the face of them trying to kill him, though? I had no such qualms.

I ducked back into the frigid depths, readying an upwards charge. Even with my slowing movements, a sword skill should still work well enough to help propel me if I gained enough momentum. If these PKer wannabes tried to block the exit, I'd plow right through them. Maybe I wouldn't do much damage with my low attack stat, but the knock-back should be sufficient to get them out of the way.

Fish mobs swirled below me, taking an interest in my sinking form. I crossed my fingers (making Bloop readjust to stay wrapped around them) and hoped none would decide to attack, or worse, that I'd run into a jellyfish mob. Those things were the worst, causing a short paralysis that wasted valuable time underwater.

Speaking of wasting time…I got back on track, releasing a sword skill as I surged up through the water. I drove my sword through the players' boots holding Kirito down, continuing out of the water and landing solidly on ice. I stabbed the nearest one with a Linear, sending him sprawling. Kirito used the opening to drag himself onto the ice before finally getting into the fight himself.

I took stock of our attackers while Kirito went on the offensive. Two orange cursors, a red cursor and a green cursor. I glanced up at my own cursor: still green. I must not have hit the green player then.

Kirito was currently engaging the red player, while an orange player snuck up to him from behind. The player I'd hit, the other orange, was just picking himself up off the ground. The last player stood back from the fight, not wanting to sacrifice her green cursor. That was a mistake I'd be sure to correct—in a moment.

First, I leapt at the orange player attempting to land a surprise attack on Kirito. He saw me a moment too late, letting out a cry and holding up his claw weapons to block. I was too overcome with anger to be wowed by his choice in weapon, instead ducking under his swipes and retaliating with one of my own. His health dropped a bit, but I wasn't paying attention to that.

The second orange player, the one I'd stabbed with the Linear, managed to get a good hit on me while I was dealing with claws-orange. Despite the solid landing of the blow, my health didn't go down much, either. Gotta love this defense build.

Now that I was out of the icy water, my movements were speeding up back to normal. This allowed me to dodge Linear-orange's next attack. He overshot and ended up falling into the ice-hole. With him taken care of, I turned my attention back to claws-orange. It didn't sit right with me to let Kirito fight the red player on his own, but I was a little too busy to help him at the moment.

I knew I wasn't able to do a lot of damage at once with my lacking attack, so I threw Bloop into the mix, literally.

"The hell?!" Claws-orange asked, "was that supposed to do something?" He poked at Bloop with a claw.

"Don't touch him!" I snarled, knocking his claw away with a Horizontal Square. "Bloop, move to his back!"

Bloop did as he was told, claws-orange too busy defending himself from me to stop the slime from sliding out of his reach.

Linear-orange managed to get back to his feet again, back on solid ice. Now it was back to two-on-one.

Steadily my HP dropped from glancing blows. I focused more on Linear-orange, letting Bloop drain claws-orange's health for me. Luckily, I was still doing more damage than I was taking. I was in the yellow while the other two were in the red. We stopped, breathing heavily despite the lack of physical exhaustion in fulldive.

"I suggest you surrender," I warned them. "Your health is in the red, and it'd upset Kirito to see anyone else die. You better be happy he has more mercy than I do. Bloop!"

They looked confused by my use of the weird word, but I paid them no mind. They were beaten. Bloop, following my command, made a bubbling noise and happily hopped back to my left hand. "Good job little guy."

There was a cry from the red player, a clatter as his throwing picks fell to the ground. I looked over to see him covered in red slashes, on his butt, obviously beaten. Kirito stood over him, sword pointing down at him menacingly. Kirito's health wasn't looking good either, in the low yellow zone, but he'd survive. I'd make sure of it. Low yellow for him was a lot closer to death than low yellow for me, what with his being a complete glass cannon; I'd protect it with my life.

The green player saw her chance. Our guards were down. She didn't like sacrificing her cursor, but it'd go back to green after a while, and her teammates needed her. Unfortunately for her, she announced her attack with a battle cry like an idiot. I stepped in front of Kirito, making sure I was the one to stop her attack and return my own. Why?

As soon as my sword touched her avatar, my cursor turned orange. She was still a green player, after all.

"Kyou!" Kirito cried, but I ignored him. I knew my cursor was going to come out of this orange as soon as I saw they had a green player. It was going to be okay.

I jinxed it, of course.

Turns out, Kirito wasn't upset about my cursor; rather, he was trying to warn me of my impending doom. From seemingly out of nowhere, a throwing axe lodged itself in my sternum, resulting in a critical hit that ate up the rest of my HP.

I looked up at my empty health bar. I looked down at the axe.

"…Fuck."

I shattered.

A fifth player appeared, dropping his Hiding skill. "One down, one to go," he laughed.

Shit. How could I let this happen? Leave Kirito alone with five PKers?

The previously defeated players began to regroup. Something had to be done.

Ghost time.

I maneuvered until I was directly over the shoulder of my killer. "You think a little death is going to stop me?" I bluffed. The red axe-thrower stiffened, falling for it, so I moved on to the next players. If I could rattle them all enough, they'd hopefully leave and Kirito would survive.

"I thought I told you to surrender." I threatened lowly, now speaking right in the orange players' ears. One of them actually yelped, and I could see the other start to shake.

I moved on to the green player. "Don't you know? I'm the Phoenix Blade. I'll only come back, and you'll regret taking part in this dearly." The girl gasped, slipping on the ice and falling on her butt.

Lastly, I approached the red player. "You've killed. Worse, you've hurt Kirito." I lowered my voice to an eerily soft whisper. "I'll kill you for that." The red player's face paled, pupils shrinking to mere dots as the system emoted his fear.

Kirito, for his part, used the time it took for me to scare the shit out of everyone to drink a potion, and that, combined with his Battle Healing, brought his health back to the green. By the time the PKers got their wits back about them, Kirito was back to almost full health. Still, one vs. five were terrible odds.

"So, what's it gonna be?" I projected my voice now, doing my best to fill my tone with confident mocking. "Do you surrender? Will you run? Or do I get to show you what happens when you die?"

Without further prompting, the red player Kirito had engaged rolled out from under Kirito's sword and dove into the water, his companions close behind him.

"Kyou…" Kirito said in a warning tone. I looked at the swordsman who I pretty much considered a younger sibling at this point, finding Bloop trembling on his shoulder. Aw, had I scared my small slime? I'd have to make it up to him somehow.

I sighed. At least Bloop didn't become wild again after I died. That would be devastating. Kirito could take care of him while I was awake or dead, making the indigo blob kind of his tamed monster too.

"Sorry for scaring you, Bloop. It's not like I could do anything to them since I'm dead, but I guess I was pretty convincing." I would have smiled sheepishly if I'd had an avatar to do so with, but alas, I did not. "Are you okay, Kirito?"

"I should be asking you that," he retorted. "No status ailments on my end, but you're stuck as a disembodied voice until we beat the next floor boss."

A beat, then, "Ah, _man,_ you're right. God damn it all."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I want it known that Kyou used his newfound lack of an air gauge due to having no avatar to scout the dungeon and tell Kirito where all the chests and air pockets are. Because really, when death gives you lemons, right?

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you to everyone who's made it this far! Updates will be sporadic. Sometimes I get inspiration; sometimes I don't. Rest assured, though, I'll continue to update until the end! Even if it takes years.


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